Better Lucky than Good
Deck: Grim Fullmoon Uber Storm of Flips and Tricks
Event: GP Lille 2015
Place: 10/1573 (15R, Top 8)
by hardcore Storm palyer from Prague
previous report - Ovino 2014 - 18th/476, Storm
I'm sorry this took me so long, I had the rough text for a week or so and just can't format and finalize it, also wrote more of freely related stuff you can skip... forgive me typos and weird stuff if still in the text, I tried to correct it but I turning dyslectic or whatever since I started reading the Source...
Me and Mtg
Started around Mirage as a kid, quit when got all cards stolen after Urza's Destiny, semi-returned 2008 for a month via trading and kitchen table thanks to a long lost friend, seriously back in 2009/2010 playing budget Aluren Equilibrium combo (dream of 1999), seriously, Brown Stax in Early 2010 (awesome), UR CB Painter since summer 2010 (Maubert Noham style not Durward yet)... buying into U Lands (2009 dream come true) in late 2010 (the true Lands - 1 Manland, Academy Ruins wincon, sweetest deck ever), bought into Doomsday a week prior to release of Mental Mistep, sold Lands a week prior to Mental Mistep ban, I was really frustrated by Mistep, Extraction and Elves back then... playing Storm seriously since GP Amsterdam (2011?) i did not get to attend after all, sold Painter after GP Ghent 2012 (i played Storm anyway), since late 2012 I have played a different deck than Storm twice in a tournament (forgot my cards at home once, played a BDP Threshold the other time), forgive me for I have sinned I've drafted once for it was free.. other than haven't played other than legacy and vintage, I missed the window to buy Power (and tried to pimp my deck a bit instead) but don't like the creature trend anyways so no regrets, following mtg at daily basis, but I'll do much less soon, despite (or because) my area having 2 4-rounders a week and some more tournaments on the weekends the legacy around me is dying slowly, and I see my future attending only bigger tournaments on regular basis... so this one caught my at the peak of my attention to legacy
The List:
Why/How to play&SB with the list
If you have to ask read the Ant thread, I'm telling you to play 2 PiF last 3 years, none listened until Kai top 4ed GP Kyoto with a list I do not really like... I'm known to play offbeat lists and choices, for what it takes I don't care what you think about the list, but if you're thinking about picking up the deck netdecking is not your friend, there are plenty flavours of Storm - as top 16(17) shows different stuff works and unlike other deck even small changes can mean very different game for you, you should always find out yourself what suits you the best and the experience, the journey, finding out forms you into a good Storm player, not a list of someone else... yet I think the MD is the best Storm deck in existence in terms of combining speed&power (if I did not believe it, I'd have played something else wouldn't I?)... the rest is up to YOU!
Genesis of the list - Why this is not a Grinding station...
If you follow the ANT thread you are familiar with my views on the archetype and preferences, let me expand how list ended up looking like this... unlike works of Jona a Pascal Wagner where the list started off as a new Storm archetype at 4 ToA and no IT, this list is an evolution of former ANT... originaly my list around GP Amsterdam was very near to one Elie Pichon top 8ed with, featuring 2 Grim Tutor and Ad Nauseam, in that time I had limited access to duals and Grim Tutor, when time came up for me to return the stuff to a friend so awesome to elt me keep it for half a year (thanks Vilik!) I was looking for a replacement for the Tutors... The answer for a question unasked was easy I was already trying to play 2 PIf (yeah w 2 GT and 2PiF Ad Nauseam is really awkward) and played 2 Pif in every single decklist since that - ranging from 3 Burning Wish at GP Ghent to 1 BW and a Snapcaster (an Emidln tech of the time) in the fall of the same year... I played the single BW to have access to G1 EtW... such a fool I was, it took me so long and needed TES guys adopting MD EtW to open my eays - this shows how hard is to break the "Ad Nauseam" paradigm many struggle with even now... for a short period of time I tried to revive LDV - which I played around BoM Paris 2013 (funny enough 1 of my Opps basicaly died to his LDV in a mirror match there)... the deck was good yet another important change come by 2014 at GP Prague sideevent - I played 2 ToA for the first time, I was pondering Lightning bolt as a removal of choice because my local metagame was very Delver/DRS/Thalia driven... so I played both 2ToA and 2Bolt MD also tried Sulfur Elemental as a White hate and Miracles B plan for the first time there and ran the same config in GP Paris 2014, after failing at Prague Eternal 1 in the summer of 2014 I switched Bolt for SDT to have better game against Combo and Miracles and stayed on that ever since (a think to note - the 2 different lists from GP Madrid 2010 are source endless inspiration for me in all 3 instances, those lists are perfect (also how awesome would be someone who'd open his eyes and show up with Karakas is the SB... there is always an innovation possible))with some hints of success in Ovino 2014 and winning Prague Eternal 2 sideevent after some bad luck in the main, before Treasure Cruise, during Treasure Cruise, after Treasure Cruise - the MD stayed 100% the same the maindeck stayed the same, I was thought I was well prepared for MKM Rome, but 5-3 was a disappointment, I found the I'm lacking that tiny bit of something that swings a match in my favor after a delicate dance preparing position to strike my Opponents had more topdecks and Dig Through time gave them firm reign of the match out of nowhere, despite kind of close games I went 1-2-1 in the MU...the Pithing Needle does not work anymore because of DiG and my choice of Xantid Swarm was abysmal for the event (doing that despite my firm believe G2 creature vs. Miracles is just plain bad as the learned long time ago), the bug did actual nothing...during my preparation for Prague Eternal and GP lille I tried bunch of configurations - ranging from more SDTs and up to 7 Storm spells to Pernicious deed, White SB and others... my winrate drops below 70%... with Prague Eternal arriving soon I got some real life testing with my friend Tomas Vlcek who for some reason likes to play against Storm (which is rare imo), find out full G plan is decent and Doomsday plan incredible... I played G plan w Deed into 5-2 on friday Prague Eternal, losing to Miracles.. for the next day I metagamed hard and yoloed on Doomsday to hedge against top players with byes, fortuna rewarded me with non-U matches all the day (which is awful contrary to false belief of great Storm on Wx MU) having to play against 6 Cannonist D+T with 1 Massacre is real sweat... I ended up losing to some great Aggro Loam hands... talking with Pascal Wagner after the event I was more inclined to play straight G plan again (he liked his Miracles MU but was uncomfortable with Omnitell where I was the other way around) in testing it was decent, you had to work hard for it but worked, I still tried to incorporate Doomsday SB to my list and talked with Cabal Therapy a lot about it, but couldn't find a configuration I 100% like because it takes up too many slots, and less lands in the SB mean changes to the MD landbase, I'm not used to play with 1R source yet ... Sulfur Elemental is the hot tech for the tournament, I generaly do not like Dread of Night and wanted to have more game against Aggroloam of Niklas Kronberger which I considered strong choice for the tournamnet, also does make sense as G3 plan vs. Miracles... after Prague Eternal I enter miserable mode again, losing to endless mulligans (you just don't mulligan unless you have to) and some realy comical decks and situations... with GP Lille approaching, I feel I just have to do well, I've charged my luckpool more than enough...
Intro
Accompanied by the top EU Miracles player Tomas Vlcek our flight in Thursday afternoon is uneventful outside of Tomas falling in love with a mexican beauty sitting next to him, we did not even get proper attention bringing out our decks and as we started shuffling the plane started the descend to Bruxelles. Tomas shortens our bustrip to Lille, dispatching me 2:7 in 1,5 hour which is enough to even out the score from the testing session we had the previous day, if I was convinced that my SB plan is good I wasn't so sure now... After we organized ourselves with a kingsize portion of kebab near the Central trainstation Tomas started his journey to find the Castle of outsidemymap (shy of princess but the home of Euro/American legacy elite) , Tomas's wheeled bag merry rumbling over the brick pavement followed our footsteps, loudly heralding things yet to come... dusk started to fall on us in an impressive Citadel/park where I think I've seen seen enough (feat. something Mooselike in a pond), and said goodbye... while Tomas was disappering in the shades o nearby highway I head back to find out whether a group of czech players who were so kind and promised to let me stay with them for the night would be so kind and do so. After short hide and seek intermezzo in the reception I made it to the appartment, the only person whom I did not know yet was Jarda, guy I saw for the first time, never new he played legacy at all yet he'll and 2 places above me. The appartment crew is on Aggroloam/Omnitell, Aggroloam, BURG (top 8 list)/Belcher, BURG (creator). In the morning I led a greedy trade Svaca, imo the best czech legacy player (creator of top 8 BURG deck run by Petr of which he distributed like 4 copies to his friends), by few unneccesary shortcuts around playground feat. burnt car and more graffity and thrash than I've seen the other day (btw. I understand why Tomas told me about tourist surprised that Prague has so clean streets, because there was thrash everywhere on the streets and no bin to find, thinking about separating different materials is next level utopia...), grabbing a breakfast we arrived to the convention center for the Early bird trials more than soon enough...
Friday
list=GP list
i don't have very clear memory of these ones so let me be shorter
Trial 1
great organization of trial flights earns me a Trial 8 spot along with 2 of the guys I stayed with (despite my trying to stay in group of unknowns), both decent players one on Omnitell the other on Svaca's BURG
Omnitell 2:0
G1 - u don't know what he's on and just do my thing after checking his hand few times when he taps can't cast a Cunning Wish he ahs in hand
G2 - I play control role with discard, he is low on action, after few turns he feels the clock ticking and shows me an Emrakul, I pick up the challange and show him the fireworks
Miracles 2:0
Norwegian, nice person to play against, he was sitting next to me previous round, won against Solidarity on first blood rule - really funny to watch, I think with little more courage on the Solidarity players side I could have had a different opponent...
G1 - I have something fast, discard his Terminus and go for 1X goblins, he doen't find an answer
G2 - a little bit slower start feats. a RIP on his side and than he dies in the same manner as previous game, Me having a Pyroblast for his cantrip of hope
Infect 2:0
I had some time to scout so I know I'll face Infect, if I win this one, I'll face one of the friends I stayed with who battle each other and probably a Dredge guy in the finals of the trial if I happen to win both
G1 - do not remember, he 0-1 protection
G2 - game gets longer, he Crop rotates to Waste me for some reason and dies
next to us BURG defeats Omnitell eventually
BURG 0:2
not a great matchup th list is well tuned, but much better player to face than it's creator
G1 - I decide I need to play into Wasteland and die to T1 DRS and the Wasteland, while softcounters stifle my eventual progress it's close but enough
G2 - the game gets very long I get Wasted 2-3x times intentionaly, he playes a DRS I decide I need to go for it, he FoWs something important leaving him with just a Pyroblast in hand and me with blind PIF plan - I realize I messed up because I played first ritual off Badlands and do not have a R source to fetch for, I cannot utilize LED for U, annoyed and trapped by my stupid mistake I do not play discard first and run headfirst to the Pyroblast...
as predicted Dredge awaits in the finals, to Opponents credit I lost to a trial winner
Trial 2
Miracles 2:1
Portugees, comes late, the trial is very hard to find (i had to ask twice myself), trial tables are spread everywhere across the hall so no penalty happens
G1 - dunno, but win, he doesn't have a lock, in hand ToA have some showing
G2 - I die to Clique an RIP
G3 - dunno, but win a longer game just in time
Miracles 2:1
russian guy, does not look into my face much, looks shy or genious
G1 - I lose to a early CB lock despite me trying to convince him it's not a good idea going for it early by representing a mirror match for few turns, I play it out to know his deck
G2 - game gets long, he Fows my Cabal Therapy and dies to Extirpate on Flusterstorm with a Snapcaster in hand... does not look at me even more, maybe thinking how n00b I'm for playing Extripate in 2015...
G3 - because I do not concede in G1 we get close to time, I try to get advantage of him not knowing the higher lifetotal/First Blood rule and ToA him for 12 which he does not mind at all, with clock ticking he tries to pressure my 30 life cushion with Snapcaster while I'm the one who has SDT in operation, Eventualy I make 4 Goblins which seriously endangers his survival capabilities... and he eventualy dies after I AD a Snapcaster and Pyroblast his cantrip of hope (I make a slight error not Pyroblasting a Snapcaster and attacking for a win, but I had other things on mind and was sure to win on higher lifetotal if needed be)
Elves 2:1
american? I know he's on Elves
G1 - starts off with Deathrite Shaman - does not get to activate it
G2 - I keep potentional T1 missing a Tutor, do not Ponder into one, he Cabal Therapies something important and miniglipses into Nullrod, next turn I die to Hoof
G3 - I check his hand, he miniglipses into Nullrod T2, I have wrong color of lands to kill him, topdecked Lotus petal is a cruel joke, I die to Hoof T3
well not great, but happens, 1st T1 kill of the weekend, Opponent knew his stuff and operated smoothly... next to me was Angelo Cadei, an incredible italian Miracles player, I was eager to play him, did not like my chances, did not get the chance, btw. Angelo won this trial
I had like 2 hours of free time before last chance Trials for the SDT playmat start in the hall which slowly becomes "airconditioned" hell, so I meet up with my Slovak roomate Dalibor (who won his 2nd Trial playing Aggroloam) and go look for our hotel room, take a shower, geting fresh for last run of trials...
Trial 3
If early trials shown significant number of Omnitell players with the evening getting closer Miracles becomes the most played deck, therefore I decided to try my 2nd SB plan - 3Doomsday, Shelldock Isle, Emrakul instead of 1 AD, 1 Krosan grip, Ad Nauseam, 1 Sulfur Elemental and a Tropical Island in the SB... also with a Misty rainforest in the MD... I have my decklists printed a prefer to cross out/fill in the SB slots, my MB hasn't changed for more than a year... and here it comes -
1, I'm at the wrong end of the hall when trials are announced so when I get there there are my LGS friends in the queue who I do not want to face
2, 20 ppl before me the SDT mat - the reason why a lot of people appeared run out so we get shitty Monk mat from GP Paris... losing X0 Euro for being late
3, some error in something so I can't find my trial and nobody knows where it is, suddenly I realize I gave the decklist to someone at the registration or lost it while wondering around the tables hopeleslsy... not having another copy printed and no time to write one means I have to play my former SB
Legendary Miracles 0:2
always smilling French? guy
G1 - mull 7 - no lands, mull 6 - potentional T1 kill no lander, he starts with Tundra, I sense problems... after I have no non-storm card to discard he still smiles and I scoop
G2 - Mull 7 no lands, mull 6 no lands, Mull 5 - possible T1 Etw if I find a ritual, Gitaxian probe shows problems and I don't cast a spell till Venser kills me..
I'm pretty pissed, I did not get to try the SB, did not get to play at all, I'm all sweaty and sticky again for all for reduce combo price of 15 Euro... I go grab a kebab with Dalibor and go sleep early – not that I get to sleep much, even though our room is airconditioned, it's still very hot there (premium view on the highway out of the window leaves no other option)
Saturday
Saturday morning catches me off guard and torn between G and DD SB plan due to increased Miracles presence and no byes I feel like I need some kind of advantage over the field or probability just crushes my chances on Day2, also Day 2 might have more Miracles and people I know and respect on the deck will have harder time against the plan... on the other hand I keep in mind more people will pick up AggroLoam of Niklas Kronberger, I have hard time with it not to mention all the randomness R1-4 can put me in and DD doen't do anything with, lost in my thoughts I grab few Croissants for breakfast and run into Lemnear outside the hall, Einherjer in the hall - who tells me not to play DD in the first sentence and Tomas who tells me not to play Doomsday too... going to the seetings I ask people I know - How many Miracles do you meet during 9 rounds?... I'm still undecided at the players meeting, sitting next to Pascal Wagner, we exchange few words about what we are playing today and with heavy hearth I cross DD out.
R1 - Grixis Delver 2:1
a French guy, i suspect omnitell, he starts
G1 - I die 1 mana shy of the opposite after his start of DRS
G2 - he has slow start, I get to Decay few Delvers and kill with Tendrils of Agony I sandbagged since T1
G3 - he has late delver and dies to Tendrils of Agony I sandbaged since T1 after some weird Flusterstorming action...
SB: +3AD +Trop +Bayou -USea -CR -Grim -Mire -LP
despite sounding easy I was very nervous in the end, the importance of R1 is very stressful for me
R2 - Death and Taxes 2:0
a smiling French lady in her 40ties, does not speak english well (she also does not read japanese and know Storm as found out later) I suspect a glasscannon or a W deck, flashing a Plains during shuffling confirms my suspicion, I win the roll
G1 - I start with Swamp -> Thoughtseize which reveals some W creatures, I grab a SFM with intention to EtW next turn, sufficient
G2 - she mulls 6 and starts with Plains, a GP reveals no Thalia, she does not topdeck one and dies my T2 still smiling at me while I try to walk her through a PiF loop
SB: +3Sulfur -CR -ToA -Duress
R3 - Shardless BUG 2:0
comes right on time, Johannes's opponent next to me is not able to do so and their match ends sooner that this:
G1 – I win the roll, he wins a crazy start with a mull to 4 cards, T1 Thoughtseize does not reveal a Bazaar but a Deathrite and some spells, after 4th discard spell cast he thinks he has seen enough and packs the cards, I have him on Team America
G2 - I check him few times and go of into a possible Brainstorm ->Fow which he does not have...
after the match I find out he thought of me as a Grixis control, wanted to save time and SBed 2FoWs out...
SB: +Pyroblast +2AD +Extirpate +Trop +Bayou -LP -CR -Ponder -USea -Mire -ToA
R4 - Reanimator (144th) 0:2
I know what's he's on, this guy bears a name of a a french impressionist painter and his draw was truely impressive...
G1 - he wins the roll, I have a double discard into fast kill, T1 Grisselbrand backed up by Daze paints my world black, I can still put up a fight but another Daze (and FoW backup) shuts the door I might have no more than a nail in...
G2 - I mull into a controlish 6, discard him few times, Pyroblast his Show and tell, he still has Brainstorm, Jin Gitaxias, Careful Study and Reanimate, so I PiF+LED -> Mindtwist both of us to stay alive, he topdecks Entomb and my world loses blue... in retrospect I might have risked him drawing 7 of Jin because of the Past in Flames, but Entomb meant no difference
SB: +2Pyroblast +2Extripate +Trop +Bayou -Island -Swamp -USea -CR -LP(on play) -Ponder
after the match he told me not to worry that i might seem to be a good player and Ant players more easily advance to Day 2 to get crushed by Blue decks there, I decide to fullfill his words because playing U decks is what troubles me the least...
R5 - MUD 2:0
a guy with some impressive mustache and a Kiki-Jiki mat, he looks like someone who enjoys casting a Goblin Welder, so I think of Imperial Painter
G1 - I start and a GP shows me Sol Land, Grim Monolith, Metalworker, Lodestone Golem and Post lands, I let him cast the Metalworker, discard Golem and kill him, surving 2 drawsteps
G2 - he mulls into 5? and topdecks T2 Trinisphere which cost him a City of Traitors, I Krosan Grip the 3ball eot and kill him...
SB: +3AD +2KGrip +Trop +Bayou -Usea -GP -2Ponder -LP -CT -?
this is scary sometimes, definitely dodged a bullet after eating one
R6 - Omnitell (Lans89) 2:1
fellow sourcer, we met R1 on MKM Rome, he was on Elves, I'm suspecting Omnitell
G1 - around T3 I have a blind Cabal Therapy which I decide to name Omniscience with because I feel like he has a Show and Tell hidden on the top of his library but my cantrip prior to this delivered another Therapy, so upon resolution I do not follow my gut feeling and name Show and Tell, he apparently had Omniscience in hand and Shown me Through Time how 2 Emrakuls look like...
G2 - he has a Flusterstorm and nothing important, I have a fast hand, Pyroblast his Brainstorm, discard Flusterstorm and kill him...
G3 - T2 I have a difficult choice, stuck at 1 land I BS, hope for 1 and Cabal therapy 2 Omniscience I know about or just Cabal Therapy safely, gut feeling tells me to do so, but I think I need to advance my plan as I'm not winning at 1 land, the ridiculous follows - I BS and brick, drawing SDT and mana, Lans rips Show and Tell and Shows me 2 Omniscience but has no action, just a Flusterstorm and Pyroblast, I routinely play a cantrip into his free Pyroblast while he's tapped out... so I have just SDT and 1 land, pass, nothing happens, SDT, nothing, pass, nothing happens, SDT, pass, nothing happens, I eventually see his hand of lands and Flusterstorm, SDT -> have a ToA, DR and a land on top, so I untap play out a land cast DR, which gets countered? so I flip the SDT ftw. and ... bad dum tssss... draw Tendrils... HOLY !:!:.! so i pass the turn, Lans has some free cantrips and passes, I kill him... he shows me the hand of lands...
SB: +2Pyroblast +2Extirpate +Trop -CR -LP -Ponder -Island -Swamp
well definitely deserved to lose this one for my mistakes...
R7 - Miracles 2:1
Mr. Trial 2 R2 in a rematch, smiling at me this time, this is gonna be rough - he knows what's up and saw some of my tricks, definitely is a good player
G1 - I'm in dire straights, match starts to drag a little, he has 2 FoW I know about, my hand offers just to have my favourite gamble... I cast a Dark Ritual, he thinks a bit and lets me, doens't care about the other Rituals, have a bargain for you - what about an Infernal Tutor, 2 cards left in hand?... he's ok with it... and this is boys and girls how you die with 2 Fows in hand, oh how I love this every single time this happens.... first ToA for 10 second for 12... quad check of the hand doesn't change the fact
G2 - has some action I Pyroblast and Abrupt Decay things, eventualy he has a Clique and topdecks a RiP which really messed up my plans...
G3 - if I had a a play of the day here it comes... his hand at 2 lands in play - CB, RiP, Ponder, Counterspell, unknown, a Flusterstorm and Brainstorm are in the GY I discarded/was played earlier, he dares not to play a 2CC because I'm drawgo and represent Abrupt Decay (which I truely have) I have a SDT in play, he draws a land but has no play ... which telegraphs what? ... a eot Clique or a Snapcaster... I SDT eot and he tells me to hurry (we are near to time) and so I do... I play an LED - if this gets on the table rest of the game does not matter, because he dies (unless his unknown is FoW) - sweet he does not know yet, I have a bunch of rituals, IT, TOA and PiF in hand, he lets the Rituals, IT, sac LED for Red - 6 mana floating 1 fetch untapped (lesson learned from Trial 1 R4), he knowns what I'm up for - a Counterspell beating line and thinks he has me... IT resolves - question for the reader - which is the card that wins you the game? ... I flashback PiF, he flashes a Snapcaster (I'm kind of disappointed he still does not respect Extirpate) headfirst to the Pyroblast and dies... and that is why I love Pyroblast...
SB: +3AD, +2Krosan Grip, +Trop, +Bayou, +2Pyroblast, +2Extripate, -3LP, -CR, -2Ponder, -Island, -Mire, -Duress (not on draw), -Pif (if RIP), -GP -62 cards
he tries to find out what went wrong, but truely nothing he could have done... games with this gentleman are an example why I'd never play a different deck... and the experience was probably very tilting for him...
R8 - Death and Taxes (44th) 2:1
I know what I'm up against, smiling and silent he starts
G1 - Plains -> Vial, I have some hard time on this mull 6-> LED, LED, LED, USea, DR, DR, BS ... what would you do? I have to try this out couple of times, I'm unsure of T1 chances, but I did nothing and died to T2 Thalia... if I had known he has Cannonist MD I don't hasitate a second (obv. 2nd from top was a Grim Tutor, card for turn is a IT)
G2 - I cantrip, he Plains -> Vial, I respect Spirit of the Labyrinth and play my other cantrips, he has T2 Thalia, I estabilish SDT and keep drawing mana, I have a Sulfur Elemental but lacking in mana or storm department to close it up, so I have to pass, he Revokers my SDT, I have to survive 2 turns, Sulfur Elemental in resp to Port to preserve storm, ramp up - got a LED Relic Wardened mid combo - doesn't matter - ToA for 20
G3 - Plains -> Vial, T2 Thalia, I cantripped expensively and draw just mana, he fetches up Sword of F&I and suits up Thalia, I still draw CRituals, after he Revokers my Petal, drawing another Cabal Ritual I think I've seen enough and storm to infinity... casting ToA I still have ~6B floating...
SB: +3 Sulfur Elemental -CR -ToA -Duress
he takes it with a smile... and tells me about the Cannonist, dodged another bullet, hoooray Day2!!!, can get only better... and I had a sweet one:
R9 ANT (95th) 2:0
I get pair up against a jolly opponent, he asks me something about my name, which gets me wondering what he's on, and whether he knows me, he wins the roll
G1 - he opens on Misty->Island->Ponder , I immidiately have him on combo... and this is why I don't autofetch basics..., I decide to play a game and Delta->Volcanic Island->SDT, he Brainstorms, fetches USea off Mire and Ponders = Mirror or weird Reanimator, T2 I BS and decide to go for it with LP-> CR, he pretends to think about it and I don't buy it, when he tries to read my korean Past in Flames I know where he's from and we are onto G2
G2 - I have CT, LP, Extripate, IT, cantrip, land, GP... he mulls 6 starts with a GP and Island... seeing my hand he has a hard time and CT me for CT off LP and plays a second LP, my GP shows why - Extripate, 2x IT - tells me he did not want to lose on the spot ...I cantrip few times, eventually see his and of - Extirpate, PiF, LED, 2x IT, discard Extripate and PiF loop him...
SB: +2Extirpate, +2Pyroblast +Ad Nauseam +Trop -Island -Swamp -ToA -CR -Ponder/GP -LP
he doesn't know me and haven't played the deck for a while, I show him my list and we have a friendly chat, pleasure to meet him... unlike others I enjoy playing mirror matches
I found out other Source stormers are also in great spot Nevilshute (finally got to meet him) and Jamie also at 8-1, Kai at 7-2 (funny to see him killing Mud OP through CotV) and I'm happy many of my friend made it too Svaca (7-2), Kikac (9-0) playing the BURG deck, Johannes on Miracles (7-2), Jarda on Aggroloam (8-1) and surely forgot some.. sadly a lot my frieds did not...
I have the pleasure to have a late dinner with most of the Castle crew and arrive to my room around midnight, thinking i need to end up better than in Paris I try to pretend airconditioning is working just fine...
Sunday
get up by 8, morning Croissants and here we go... 1st round is the most important, just need to win, gimme something easy...
Omnitell (88th) 2:1
a German, his appearence screams combo
G1 - I don't pay attention to the former and keep a 4lander, mimicking control does not last forever and I get Shown Through Time...
G2 - I start with a nice allblacks hand with PiF, T2 I go for it leaving a ritual if he Fows my PiF/flashbacked ritual, and he does, next turn I draw a land and the one after a IT, he taps out and Digs in response to the IT and dies
G3 - I control his hand a bit and than we have a situation – he has Show and Tell and DiG (exactly to cast it) I have the kill but need to resolve CR first, prior to Cabal Therapy... for the turn I draw an Extripate, he lets the CR, has his BS Extripated and dies with a Dig in hand... hmmm I feel like I've read this one before somewhere...
SB: +2Pyroblast +2Extirpate +Trop -CR -LP -Ponder -Island -Swamp
Infect (27th) 2:1
I saw this one nearby but do not really remember to associate with him
G1 - he starts with Tropical Island and I recall Infect, GP confirms, I try to go for it T2 off LP->CR - but he BSes into FoW which feeds his GY enough to kill me with Become Immense+Invigorate on his Nexus.. doesn't feel great
G2 - he has very controling hand with FoW + double Flusterstorm, Noble Hierarchs bite me bit by bit, I'm aware of Berserk line killing me, so eventually I amass enough to to overload his counterspells and kill him
G3 – an early game of surgical precission - I discard his FoW, Ritual, forcing him to Daze to get me on 4 mana with IT on the stack, he Extracts something from me and while searching my deck he finds out for himself how this ends - a Nexus in hand is not an obstacle for 18 Goblins on the table
SB: :+2KGrip, +Trop +Bayou -Island -Swamp -CR -LP
G3 I had +2AD +1Pyro for probably -2LP -Ponder
Mentor Miracles (1st) 1:2
I was introduced to Claudio the day before, he seems to not recall me and I don't recall his deck in return, I think I saw him playing Grixis control on Friday
G1 - he starts with a Volcanic - allright, I cantrip, he has a Tundra and tells me he's Grixis with White.. funny enough, mindreading, my turn I BS which compliments my already insane hand... 2x LP, 2xCT, and a kill, I CT first, he BS, I name BS - obv. he has FoW and BS in hand.. 2nd CT for FoW off petal and DR off LP2, IT+LED -> ToA, thanx for coming
G2 - this gets longer, I have to discard a Surgical Extraction over FoW and then Extripate it, what I see is not enjoyable, he's apparently on Mentro Miracles - judging by Dazes, has 2 Cannonist and a Blood Moon... i obv. SBed out an Island... he Digs into the Blood Moon and I don't have a G card in hand so I have to let Cannonist go the distance
G3 - (this time Sulfurs go in for 1 Extirpate and something I do not recall) He has a T2 Cannonist, but I have infinite time, Pyroblast something, AD a CB, unfortunately AD gets Extracted... now I have 2 lands, Sulfur Elemental, BS, IT, LED, something, I do not hurry, draw a second Sulfur, still do not BS, because if I brick I think I'm going to die, meanwhile I have a Thoughtseize discarding FoW, he has nothing, just the Cannonist and SDT... I still do not BS... and that was my mistake, following turns my Opp has 2x eot Snapcaster, I BS into a land too late, have to chump the Cannonist with the Elemental, my Opp finds another one the same turn... had I BSed for the land earlier I'd win, the rest of my hand was a kill (blocked by the Cannonist) and he had nothing he told me afterwards...
SB: +3AD, +2Krosan Grip, +Trop, +Bayou, +2Pyroblast, +2Extripate, -3LP, -CR, -2Ponder, -Island, -Mire, -Duress (not on draw), -Pif (if RIP), -GP -62 cards ,different with Sulfur Elementals
I did not see this coming....
Grixis Delver (59th) 2:1
I'm still uneasy whether I made mistake or not the previous round
G1 - he has a aggro hand, but can't find the right cards, I win on the last turn possible
G2 - a Daze is blocking me from winning via natural Tendrils, 1 mana, so close...
G3 - I cantrip T1, he has a T1 Cage, T2 I make incredible mistake - BS off Island, and dunno why - said go... effectively timewalking myself... welcome to Day2! damn, last game was 1 mana short, if I lose this one in the same manner... he eventualy Digs, casts this and that, bringing me into a situation I'm dead next turn, have 3 lands, win in hand and a CT but also only CR for mana, he's tapped out... this means I play around Daze or FoW but not both... what to do... I went for FoW, he had nothing and died
SB: +3AD +Trop +Bayou -USea -CR -Grim -Mire -LP
Legendary Miracles (51st) 11
I'm paired down to x-2-1 and sense trouble, looking at who's sitting in front of me I recognize a Miracles player I saw earlier in rounds with another Ant (only player I don't know), as we are about to shuffle and chat a bit, judge comes to deckcheck us, weird... everything is fine though and we get a 12 min extension
G1 - he looks like does not recognize me/my deck, but has 2x FoW and Venser shows me hard times...
G2 - we do some things, each of his own, eventualy I AD his SDT, discard his BS, leaving him with just Venser and Ritual into lethal ToA - for some reason i thought he's on different lifetotal and he plays Venser "targeting ToA"... I recount twice, realize what happened with the storm count, point at the ToA card and ask "this one?" he confirms... hmmm... next turn I CR->ToA, he Flusterstorms, I pay ->G3...
G3 – normal time in the round is called and people start to gather around, my hand is very defensive, I discard SDT and Extirpate it, Pyroblast something and remind myself that I need not to lose, so I play very conservatively, holding up AD to not get Cliqued away, I Extripate a CB (including a freshly drawn one) and for some reason just write the hand down and let him proceed (which my friend called incredible mistake but that one hasn't happened yet) - we should have been issued a warning because the library wasn't shuffled even though it wasn't searched... he topdecks CB next turn, but it does not matter at all... eventually our time is called and the nightmare starts - It's clear he can't kill me and my hand is weak to kill him until my very last turn, I start to feel the pressure - I know he has a Clique and a Flusterstorm, I can EtW for ~14 so my plan is to do so and ask him if he'd concede , I CR which s ok and LED to which he casts Clique, I know my top 2 cards (2nd SDT and land) from eot SDT activation so I want to fetch and look with SDT, I fetch and he casts Wear/Tear on SDT, I look in response and 3rd card is ToA ... so I made a mistake not looking prior to the fetch which is bad but still I can save it by drawing 2nd SDT and killing him with ToA through the SDTs, what did I do? I panicked how I messed this up did not see the winning line, need to act with a headjudge behind my back and zillion people staring at me and fuck up even more – having drawn the ToA with SDT I could feel the heavy iron fist of dissappointment materializing above me, pressing me back to the chair along with my hopes, Clique took the ToA, zillion Gobblins arrived, he showed me Terminus and shook my hand... matchslip passes the hands, people go their way, tournament goes on and I'm left in the chair in disbelieve of my actions... first of my friends hears a string of vulgar words about my idiocy and frustration, due to bad breakers I robbed myself of chances to play for top 8 in a situation I wouldn't make a mistake otherwise...
SB: +3AD, +2Krosan Grip, +Trop, +Bayou, +2Pyroblast, +2Extripate, -3LP, -CR, -2Ponder, -Island, -Mire, -Duress (not on draw), -Pif (if RIP), -GP -62 cards
Miracles (26th) 2:0
I got paired up against guy sitting next to my also playing Miracles.... I'm so enraged I'm about to burst in tears and hardly say Hi (sorry for that)
G1 - My deck is afraid of it's well being and serves me GP into T1 kill, my opp has FoW but no U card... I find no joy in the win, getting calmer but annoyed, bored and upset
G2 - all I remember is the combo turn - i know about Spell Pierce and Flusterstorm, I'm able to play around it and go for it, but my Opp shows up with FoW (i did not know about) for a discard spell and complicated Flusterstorm your IT (I don't care as I have another one IT on SDT) and in resp. to the last Fluster (afraid of flashback PiF, which went to GY, if priority gets passed) so I draw SDT for the IT and kill him with exactly 2 mana for SP... had he played his spells differently we might have a G3
SB: +3AD, +2Krosan Grip, +Trop, +Bayou, +2Pyroblast, +2Extripate, -3LP, -CR, -2Ponder, -Island, -Mire, -Duress (not on draw), -Pif (if RIP), -GP -62 cards
and that's it, 10th on breakers, same score as the other 2 Czechs, yet not good enough, I'm not that bitter now but for someone who prides on technical level of play this stuff is criminal, not that I'd be in the top8 for sure I'd have to luck another win, maybe I'd play one of the Czechs, maybe Nevishute, maybe not, the doubt is what hurts I wish I could fight for it till the end... sadly Nevilshute also misses top 8, but the tournament put other 3 Storm players, Sourcers whom I trust and respect in the top 17 places a decent showing for the archetype...still thinking about my play i watched the feature matches where both Czechs lose in the quarterfinals, so I go to the other side of the hall to trade a bit for which I had no time this weekend... by the time Claudio Bonani plays his semis I already have japanese Mentors in my binder.. Congrats to Claudio! I think he played very well everytime I have was watching him and the list was just to good to not reward him, I'm glad he won he deserves it! Winning of Mentor Miracles is no surprise for me, with very strong showing in hands of Johannes Gutbrod, if I wasn't entrenched 6 feet into Storm I'd play the list, I'm not sure why Johannes himself did not play it... anyone aware of what's happening should expect the same with Aggroloam... I just failed to put myself up there..
In the evening I was able to find my friends somewhere in Lille despite my phone dying half way there and find comfort in the company.
To not sound ungrateful, no way I was expecting such good result, my aim was to play both Days and maybe make some money in the end if I'm lucky enough to get the chance (I was 2 spots from money last GP) which in fact has been fullfilled and exceeded by a ton, just you when have the (lifetime for me) opportunity and blow it there is a grain of salt somewhere...
short notes:
+luck
+friends cheering for me
+Tendrils in Hand
+Extirpate
+3 other great ANT Sourcers in top 17
-stupid me
-air condition(ing)
-Ad Nauseam boarded in 1, Ad Nauseam cast 0, the card is just bad...
What would change with Doomsday?
I'd have more game vs. Reanimator, probably lose to MUD and have easier time with all the Miracles where I should/could have won anyway if right decisions were made, so no regrets there
Other Storm reports
12th JamieW89
15th Nevilshute
17th Sawatarix
Outro
Monday morning I had like 3 hours for sightseeing with Dalibor who leaves later in the day, going to park around the Citadel we stumble upon magical park/dendrological garden next to the university, huge trees and incredible morning atmosphere a small cavern with a waterfall and tranquility among giant trees fills me with joy...
To have time for sightseeing I had to book a late bus to Bruxells with just 35 min reserve there, when Tomas called me his earlier bus is 45 minutes late I got kind this does not look like a happy ending but my carelessness was rewarded with group of merry italians including the Gp winner himself on the bus, who kept me company, despite the traffic jam th bus gave me comfortable 15 mins to catch the flight... if weather returned to normal on Monday in Lille, Prague did not catch up... returning to normal life a Tuesday night in a pub, looking through the menu a LED (=ice in czech) gave me an awkward pause...
I guess thats all I wanted to say, shoutout to all the friends and people who cheered for me, I had opportunity talk, meet and hang out with during the weekend, MtG is much sweeter with so many friends around! I won't go names to not forget someone - If you recall me, this one is also for you! THANK YOU!, I hope to meet you all on MKM Prague in the fall, maybe Ovino 2015 if I find the time or another Prague Eternal in the future...
-Sloshthedark
Awesome deck and Awesome report.
Congrats
It seems élémental was décent after all
Great report, and deeply agree on these points:
if you're thinking about picking up the deck netdecking is not your friend, there are plenty flavours of Storm - as top 16(17) shows different stuff works and unlike other deck even small changes can mean very different game for you, you should always find out yourself what suits you the best and the experience, the journey, finding out forms you into a good Storm player, not a list of someone else...the importance of R1 is very stressful for me10th is really nice, but I understand feeling sad about the missed opportunity. I was really happy with making 12th, but if one of my losses was in r14 or 15 I'd have been unhappy about missing top-8 (or even the chance to play a win&in) instead."fortuna rewarded me with non-U matches all the day (which is awful contrary to false belief of great Storm on Wx MU)" & "I decide to fullfill his words because playing U decks is what troubles me the least..."
37th GP Ams'11 | 80th GP Stras '13 | 5th BoM Paris '13 | 12th GP Lille '15
Awesome report. Enjoyed every word of it!!!!
You did a great job. Playing storm correctly all a weekend long is dificult just because every small decision can kill you. But you just did it great.
Hope to see you soon!
From my reading how many games where won with goblins? Not really much right? Im still a bit sceptical about them.
I should post it here:
As your opponent in round 6 I say 'nice title' ;)! Thanks for your report, I was waiting for it!
Show and Tell --> Omniscience: draw, draw, draw, draw, ponder --> probe --> preordain (bottom bottom draw) --> nothing and loose with Cunning Wish on top. It was something like that, 10 cards deep :'( I finished 6-3. Also lost to Merfolk with Omniscience 3 turns in play game 3. Together with the trial final on friday, game 3 Omniscience 4 turns in play, I felt super bad about my unlucky draws ^^ But I could say I only got 'destroyed' one round troughout the weekend
EDIT: I've read all now :)! Had to do it piece by piece at work, hehe.. Great report! I love it when people can go a little more in detail, and you deliver! Sad to read about round 14 part 3... Spectators were not able to walk everywhere on day 2.. All but the top tables.. That was weird! I know it can distract too much :(! But maybe the Venser thing in the second game will soothe what happend to you a little ;)! I've read some funny stuff! Like the guy who picked up his cards and sided out FoW . I felt real bad about our game 3, it summed up as a DTT + Preordain that didn't get there , but you need to have a little luck to come that far in such a big tournament. You deserve it as a dedicated storm player, congratz with the finish :D! Maybe we'll play again at MKM in Prague =)
5-2-1 over three days against Miracles is pretty fukken good.
Grats on the finish. And nice report.
The tournament I started is over. You should join the next one.Originally Posted by sdematt
Great report! I used to play Extirpate too but stopped after not getting much use out of it. How good was it for you at Lille, would you say?
well done Martin!!!! i enjoyed play and know you, you are a relly good person! i hope we'll see soon!
all the best...and congrats again!
GG, Martin. Great finish, congratulations.
TEAM MtG Berlin
"Dredge isn't a deck, it's public masturbation with graveyard triggers."
Thanks, It was kind of... it was on GP choice, hard to get 3rd japanese there , supposed to be Karakas at first, never met a teeg deck to try out what it's supposed to do
thank you, me by my own mistake thats sad, congrats to you, 12th is great, your average GP finish is quite impressive
thank you,
T1R2G1
T1R2G2
T1R3G?
T2R2G3
R2G1
R5G2
R11G3
7/37 wins in 57 games which is about ok for me, it's another angle of attack where other card would not win, I think it was maybe once when Ad Nauseam would be better (my list does not even support Ad Nauseam very well)
I think it had some showing in R12 stalling a Cannonist G2, R14 when it was Terminused away G1
thank you very much, yeah our G3 was quite retarded, after messing up and missing out on both of my Therapies it looks like I was just supposed to win, but don't worry I saw this Omnifail few times at lgs as I told you, just happens sometimes, see you in Prague!I should post it here
As your opponent in round 6 I say 'nice title' ;)! Thanks for your report, I was waiting for it!
Show and Tell --> Omniscience: draw, draw, draw, draw, ponder --> probe --> preordain (bottom bottom draw) --> nothing and loose with Cunning Wish on top. It was something like that, 10 cards deep :'( I finished 6-3. Also lost to Merfolk with Omniscience 3 turns in play game 3. Together with the trial final on friday, game 3 Omniscience 4 turns in play, I felt super bad about my unlucky draws ^^ But I could say I only got 'destroyed' one round troughout the weekend
EDIT: I've read all now :)! Had to do it piece by piece at work, hehe.. Great report! I love it when people can go a little more in detail, and you deliver! Sad to read about round 14 part 3... Spectators were not able to walk everywhere on day 2.. All but the top tables.. That was weird! I know it can distract too much :(! But maybe the Venser thing in the second game will soothe what happend to you a little ;)! I've read some funny stuff! Like the guy who picked up his cards and sided out FoW . I felt real bad about our game 3, it summed up as a DTT + Preordain that didn't get there , but you need to have a little luck to come that far in such a big tournament. You deserve it as a dedicated storm player, congratz with the finish :D! Maybe we'll play again at MKM in Prague =)
basicaly 6-1 that Trial I'd lose to anyone, quite an improvement since MKM, but must admit most of the games were kind of close, had I been paired up against some of the elite Miracle players the finish might have been different
thanks
thanks, quite decent as you can read in the report, I'd say standard showing with splash of surprise factor, I play at least 1 for eternity, I like to have some gy interaction and the way it breaks Control lategames (or sometimes Griselbrand draw 7s), formerly had 1 for Snapcaster+Flusterstorm interaction and for situations similar to what happened with my russian opponent, usually I feel like 1,5 is the number for me, this time I had 2 because of Omnitell, also I think it's much better than Extraction against anything but Dredge and Oops all spells as a gy card of choice
Thank you... Congrats to you, a win well deserved! It was awesome to meet you, hope to see you in Prague!well done Martin!!!! i enjoyed play and know you, you are a relly good person! i hope we'll see soon!
all the best...and congrats again!
thanks, and thanks for support to all of the Berlin guys!
Good report Slosh, and Congrats again on such a strong finish! Glad I got to meet you during my trip to Europe. I don't think you give yourself enough credit. You did Top 8 Prague Eternal a month before Lille. Yes, missing Top 8 at the GP on tie breakers sucks hard, but you had a very good run nonetheless. I think you are a strong player, just need to accept the variance of the game a bit more positively.
Anyways, good luck and have fun in your future Magic adventures. Maybe we'll cross paths again as there's a decent chance I'll be in Europe next summer too, especially Prague...
In regards to Legacy:
Thank you very much, I think people while reading a report often don't realize how random things actually are and there could be very different people writing it easily if something went something a little bit different... it was nice meeting you, see you in Prague thenGood report Slosh, and Congrats again on such a strong finish! Glad I got to meet you during my trip to Europe. I don't think you give yourself enough credit. You did Top 8 Prague Eternal a month before Lille. Yes, missing Top 8 at the GP on tie breakers sucks hard, but you had a very good run nonetheless. I think you are a strong player, just need to accept the variance of the game a bit more positively.
Anyways, good luck and have fun in your future Magic adventures. Maybe we'll cross paths again as there's a decent chance I'll be in Europe next summer too, especially Prague...
Very nice report !
Could you please elaborate a bit more on this :
If you draw top, your hand is Etw, Top, your top cards are unknown (because of the fetch activation) and your board is just led and lands, right ? (+ Clique trigger on stack, which presumably will take top, depending on your mana pool - He had Terminus in hand, so he didn't care about Etw). How do you win from there ?I look in response and 3rd card is ToA ... so I made a mistake not looking prior to the fetch which is bad but still I can save it by drawing 2nd SDT and killing him with ToA through the SDTs
Hey man, first the ovino and now the gp, i think you deserve a bit more
Hope you manage to top8 a big event soon.
Ivan
"You either die a Onesto-Player, or live long enough to see yourself become a Dredger"
true, you're right, the situation was more complicated - I had EtW, Cabal Ritual, Cabal Therapy and crap in hand, around 7 mana available, he had Flusterstorm in hand, Terminus on the top of his library I'm not sure he knew about... but basicaly would happen as you describe, still made a mistake not looking on the 3rd and drawing ToA instead of SDT was bad the 5 extra turns were a blur for me
Hey man, first the ovino and now the gp, i think you deserve a bit more
Hope you manage to top8 a big event soon.
Ivan
Thank you, I was the guy you met with Tomas in the artist corner at the end f the day... I'll definitely try to
I see what you've done here!
Have you been playing/trading in the famous places of old, like say the passage of Czech National Bank (or w/e banksters are located Na Příkopech)? Because I don't remember you neither from ČNB, nor from Grossmann, not even from Warlord or Outpost.
Funny enough, I think you're the last one who held the deck in hands...
I see what you've done here!
Warlord, we probably met around 1998, do you remember all kids slinging Multiverse vs. Ghidorah vs. Mothra vs. whatever precons at Rytir 3 years back? I was thinking about going to Saga prerelease because of the Dragon promo, but ultimately went to our countryhouse with my parents for the weekend instead and that was the peak of my aspirations back then =D ... I was semifamiliar with the game, it was superpopular back then, but far from the scene... frankly I'm glad we didn't know each other, new millenium might have been quite different for me
Funny enough, I think you're the last one who held the deck in hands...
Well, yeah.. :-D I don't really remember the Gonnorah Precon Kid... but I was no big fish back in millenia break, I just played for fun within our old casual group until heroin killed the guys.Warlord, we probably met around 1998, do you remember all kids slinging Multiverse vs. Ghidorah vs. Mothra vs. whatever precons at Rytir 3 years back? I was thinking about going to Saga prerelease because of the Dragon promo, but ultimately went to our countryhouse with my parents for the weekend instead and that was the peak of my aspirations back then =D ... I was semifamiliar with the game, it was superpopular back then, but far from the scene... frankly I'm glad we didn't know each other, new millenium might have been quite different for me
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