This is a tale of triumph over tragedy - well really a triumph over those jerks in Pod 6. There was no tragedy. Pod 6 had invaded my head and lungs - I had a pretty bad cold and a case of bronchitis. This would be a weekend of Sparks making assloads of money off of me - I'd be relying heavily on Stimutacs! (Really just Monsters, 5 hour energy, coffee, and many many Aleve).
I was in the St. Louis area for a couple of days prior to the event with my GF Zoe to check out my old stomping grounds (grew up in the St. Louis area) - there is some sweet stuff downtown for those of you who have never been. The City Museum in particular is a blast, and the Forest Park area is pretty rad too. Unfortunately Pod 6 were waging a full on assault on my respiratory system, so I ended up spending most of that time laying around and drinking tea. Sad days. :(
The list I ran was 74/75 from GP New Jersey last year:
4 Marsh Flats
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
4 Underground Sea
1 Chrome Mox
4 Lotus Petal
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Children of Korlis
4 Dark Ritual
4 Entomb
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
1 Reanimate
2 Thoughtseize
3 Goryo's Vengeance
2 Lim-Dûl's Vault
4 Shallow Grave
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Griselbrand
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Sideboard:
1 Shelldock Isle
3 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Pithing Needle
1 Chain of Vapor
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Ideas Unbound
4 Doomsday
On to the event(s)!
Friday, Day 0: Open Trial
Friday evening rolls around and Zoe and I meet up with the esteemed Logan Creen (Acclimation) who graciously gave us a ride to a Legacy FNM at his LGS - it's actually an SCG Open Trial so we're playing for a bye in the open. Before play starts, we stop by a local shit bar in Troy, Il for a couple of drinks and toasted ravioli. And then... we're off to pack like 50+ Legacy nerds into this tiny shop to battle. I'm trying not to cough all over everyone but it's real hard... Anyway, it's time to start doling out Onions! My notes and memory aren't great on account of disease, but here goes... 2 events for the price of 1!
R1: Oops... All Spells (H....? I can't read my handwriting)
Yep, still hate this deck name. But can I really bitch as a promoter of Tin Fins? He wins the die roll...
G1: Mull to 6. He can't quite go off T1, but probes me and knows the deck. Turns out he's tested with Logan. Apparently not enough though as we pass 2 turns when he chooses wrong with a Therapy. I give him a present for his mistake: some Onions.
G2: He mulls to 6. I don't really know/remember what happened here - looks like I probed and killed him on my Turn 2. Whatever it was, it was fast.
1-0 (2-0)
R2: 8 Rack (Drew)
He wins the die roll (practically the story of this weekend)
G1: Both keep 7, he leads with Swamp, Dark Ritual (shit)... Ravens Crime and and Hymn? WTF just happened? He hits some good stuff, but I can cantrip. He casts Wrench Mind. OMG what is happening. I finally probe him and see maindeck Surgical Extraction. Seriously? How do I win this? What am I even playing against? We draw go for a while, and he eventually plays Shrieking Affliction (which I have to read). OH. 8 Rack!. He earlier Surgicals a Marsh Flats before I somehow make Griselbrand hit the yard (THANK GOD). I ponder and leave my business on the top so I don't have to discard it. He makes me discard whatever i drew and I kill him on the next turn. Just... wow.
G2: Bring in CoV. Both keep 7. I therapy away his Rack to buy me time. I guess it was enough as my life total notes indicate a Griselbrand putting some Children to work. They harvest some Onions for him, he dies.
2-0 (4-0)
R3: Imperial Painter (Buck)
He wins the die roll... geez. I'm real bad at this.
G1: Both keep 7. He drops mountain and welder. Ah, I know this deck as I play it from time to time. Makes my next decision easy - Thoughtseize takes Blood Moon with SDT, 2x Petal, and Painter in hand. I find what I need 2 turns later and kill him.
G2: Bring out the Dooming Onions! He's got a shit ton of storm hate in hand - Eidolon of Rhetoric and Canonist to go with REB, Jaya, Plateau, and Helm of Obedience. I don't care about any of that - Doomsday -> Shelldock -> Emrakul and he is sad. Apparently he doesn't like Onions in his Spaghetti!
3-0 (6-0)
R4: Tin Fins (Logan Creen/Acclimation)
We do the breaker math and decide we can ID into T4 to play for the bye. We play our match for fun, and I wreck him both games. Traditional Tin Fins is way faster than Jace Fins!
3-0-1 (8-0)
Top 4...
R5: Reanimator (Wes)
I'm not sure who won the roll - I'm assuming he did since that's how it had been all evening.
G1: Probe shows me a good hand with 2 Force, 2 Careful Study, Entomb, and a land I think. Therapy meets Force pitching Study. He tries to dig and search, but I drew enough disruption to clear his hand and then give him some much needed Folic Acid and Magnesium in the form of Onions!
G2: I see he has a great hand of Reanimate, Entomb, 2x Ponder, and I can't do anything to it. I mistakenly entomb in response to his entomb, and I die to my own Griselbrand. Whoops... my bad.
G3: Thoughtseize takes his Careful Study leaving him with Show and Tell, Reanimate, Exhume, Daze, Underground Sea, and Flooded Strand. I don't care about any of that, so I cast Doomsday and make Emrakul to kill him.
4-0-1 (10-1)
I watch the end of Logan's match vs. Aluren and see he wishes his Jace in play vs. Leyline of the Void was a Lim Dul's Vault...
Finals...
R6: Aluren (Zack)
No die rolls recorded, and I don't remember.
G1: I apparently never see his hand, or it was totally irrelevant if I did. He died a couple turns in.
G2: Go to Doomsday as I know he has Deathrite and Leyline of the Void. I screw up and mismanage my mana and cast LDV a turn later than I wanted to for DD. I cast Doomsday, making a Shelldock Isle and pass. He kills me after I pass. I'm punished for my mistake. :(
G3: Turn 1 Doomsday -> Shelldock -> Emrakul kills him.
5-0-1 (12-2)
The bye is mine! It's super late and I need to get up early to verify that SCG actually HAS my bye now... Thankfully Zoe bought some pizza for the crew earlier as I'm starving by this point! 1:30... finally going to sleep and feeling very sick. Gross.
Day 1: SCG Legacy Open
I'll keep track of my game record for both the open as well as the whole weekend here in parens. Hope that's not too confusing.
Wake up ridiculously tired and feeling way worse than yesterday. Great. I appear to be losing the battle with Pod 6. At least there is time for Stimutacs (Coffee, a Monster, and Aleve in this case) to kick in as I verify I have my bye. Finally ready to smash some nerds!
R1: Bye
Sometimes you get your good matchups early... (hi Jason!)
1-0 (0-0, 12-2)
R2: UWR Stoneforge (Joe Bernal)
I've seen him play on camera before and remember him seeming pretty good. Lets introduce him to our Lord and Savior, Griselbrand...
He wins the die rolls.
G1: I probe and see Force, Brainstorm, Jitte, Mesa, Tarn, and Island. Find the discard, nab Force, and easily kill him. He shakes his head, chuckling, and remarks, "Didn't expect Tin Fins..." Does anyone?
G2: My work is cut out for me as I discard an early Chalice leaving Counterspell, Stoneforge, Batterskull, Ponder, Plains, and REB. I fight through as best I can, but a cantrip meets REB, and eventually Doomsday meets Counterspell. Stoneforge + Batterskull end up swinging in for the win before I can find more business.
G3: I mull to 6, he keeps 7. He plays Needle early, and tanks on what to name, noting that there are 2 obvious choices. I was assuming he meant Griselbrand or SDT (as I had Top out last game). He surprisingly names Shelldock Isle. He later lands another Needle on Griselbrand. I don't really care about either of these due to Chain of Vapor, or just a Tendrils kill. I probe and see Counterspell, Snapcaster, Trinket Mage, and 2 Flusterstorm. Grossssssss. I end up not being able to fight through all of that and eventually die to dudes.
1-1 (1-2, 13-4)
Kinda bummed about this one. A very hateful version of a deck that my testing showed was a decent matchup.
R3: Infect (Evan)
He wins the die roll. Luck is not with me on the dice this weekend...
G1: I discard a Daze leaving a clear path and kill him on T1. Easy peasy.
G2: Doomsday in case of Rest in Peace. I cast it T3 or so and make a Shelldock pile and pass the turn. Unfortunately he has everything he needed and kills me in the meantime.
G3. Keep on Doomsday and resolve it very early (Turn 1 or 2). Another Shelldock pile. Spaghetti ruins his day.
2-1 (2-2, 15-5)
R4: Lands (Mark)
I again lose the die roll. See a pattern here?
G1: I mull to 6. I probe and see maindeck Chalice. Uh oh... He resolves it T2 on 1. Shitty. At least my hand is real good and I entomb for Griselbrand in response to Chalice (I think). I make Griselbrand the next turn, and I have to think real hard about how to win here. I don't draw enough IMS or Tendrils to win, so I'm thinking about how to set up the next turn kill with Emrakul or Griselbrand. Emrakul is out as I can't self discard and I don't have the other Griselbrand in hand. Lets just keep the best 7 we can and hope. In the meantime, lets see if we can resolve some 1 drops anyway. Cast Children of Korlis off of Scrubland. This meets a judge call, which I'm assuming is about a Chalice Trigger. However, he asks for the Oracle text on Children (mine are in Russian). After he reads that.... Children resolves! Holy shit, lets see how far we can take this. Gain life, draw a bunch. Gitaxian Probe resolves. 2 Dark Rituals Resolve. Tendrils resolves. He dies. Wow. Don't forget your triggers people!
G2: I mull to 6. He starts with Leyline of the Void in play. Yay! Good thing I don't care after boarding into Doomsday. I play SDT, he follows with Chalice on 1. I try to dig with SDT, but Marit Lage kills me. Too bad.
G3: I keep on Doomsday due to Leyline. Great hand! T1 Doomsday -> Shelldock pile. He plays Chalice on 1. I play Pithing Needle and he asks what it is naming with a Judge watching. I say Wasteland, and then play Shelldock Isle. Pass. I think he plays a land and passes back. I activate Shelldock Isle and he says, "Hey wait a sec! You can't cast Needle through Chalice!" I told him he missed his trigger, and the judge validates, "Competitive REL, Sorry dude." He loses to Emrakul.
3-1 (4-3, 17-6)
R5: 4 Color Deathrite (Allan)
I win the die roll! Finally!
G1: I keep a strong hand with search and rituals, but needing reanimation. Land, pass. He plays Deathrite - I entomb for Griselbrand EOT. I off course rip the Goryo's Vengeance off the top and assume he doesn't have countermagic as I'm screwed by Deathrite if he does. Jam the Vengeance... it resolves! Burst Onions everywhere, and see he has Deathrite, Marsh Flats, Jitte, Bob, and 4 colors of lands in hand along the way. Get ready for thoughtseize and Hymn next game...
G2: I switch to Doomsday, but mull to 5 against a likely discard deck. Doesn't bode well. It's a strong 5 with SDT so I'm still feeling pretty good. Thoughtseize away a Force and see Surgical, Snapcaster, and StP in hand. I have everything I need so I go for it, hoping he forgets about surgical. He does and I tendrils him for 20.
4-1 (6-3, 19-7)
After the match it seemed like he wanted to add some salt to his Onions... but he calms down and is cool later. :)
R6: TES (Bobby)
Of course he wins the die roll...
G1: I mull to 5. Gross. Probe and see he is on TES. Grosser. He Duresses me, but I don't think it gives everything away as my hand is really just cantrips. Eventually a bunch of Goblins kill me as I drew terribly.
G2: I mull to a strong 6 with disruption. Probe -> Therapy takes 2 Lotus Petals from his hand, which slows him down enough for me to kill him on T3.
G3: Mull to 6 again. He apparently keeps a strong 7, my hand is only ok. I draw Children of Korlis and cast it. He combos off with a good Ad Nauseum down to 4 life, but should have everything he needs to kill me. Either bounce Children with Chain of Vapor or storm really high. He apparently chooses the storm high route, and I expect that I'm dead. He probes me to go to 2, and then inexplicably makes 36 goblins. Wut? He passes the turn and I naturally topdeck the Tendrils of Agony for 2 to kill him. He's visibly upset. Sometimes ol' Hank Murphy delivers your Onions right on time!
5-1 (8-4, 21-8)
I chat with emidln for a while after the match about all the ways he could have killed me. Crazy!
R7: Esper Omnitell (Brandon/emidln)
I look at the pairing boards and see that I'm paired against Brandon. Typical, after just talking for a while. At least we both know what each other is on? I think he won the die roll...
G1: This game is insane. We go back and forth, each with discard, cantirps, and Lim Dul's Vault. I think it's around Turn 25 or so, with me at 12 life and Brandon at 9. Grindiest game I've ever played with the deck. Unfortunately I lost.
G2: I go to Doomsday... We go back and forth a bit again with discard, and I finally get an opening. Cast Doomsday and make a Shelldock pile with Therapy for his Cunning Wish. Emrakul gets the concession.
G3: Mull to 6. Another fairly grindy game. Probably by Turn 6 or so, he finally has a Show and Tell to cast. I put in Emrakul. He puts in Omniscience. Unfortunately he then casts Emrakul. That's better - too bad for me. I lose.
5-2 (9-6, 22-9)
R8:Burn (Jackson)
We had been playing by each other most of the day, so we both know what each other is on. I win the die roll. Yay!
G1: I cast Dark Ritual into Thoughtseize taking Price of Progress. Then Therapy takes 2x Eidolon of the Great Revel. That kinda ruins his day as he's left with Rift Bolt and Lava Spike. I entomb with my remaining B and kill him the following turn.
G2: He keeps up mountain and passes. I self discard a GB and play a Lotus Petal to cast Reanimate on him. Burn can't beat a 7/7 Flying Lifelinker.
6-2 (11-6, 24-9)
R9: Canadian Thresh (Michael)
I win the die roll again
G1: Both keep 7's, I think. I discard his Brainstorm T1 and burst some Onions on T2. I think. Maybe. My notes are real sketchy. Whatever happened, I liked it.
G2: Switch to Doomsday (wrong). Mull to 6. Cast Doomsday but miscount Goyf's size after I shrink my yard and I die to beats.
G3: Stay on Doomsday (wrong). Keep a strong 7 though and make a Shelldock Pile quickly with Pithing Needle on Wasteland. He topdecks a Pithing Needle for Shelldock, and I had no Chain of Vapor in my pile because I needed the cards to cast Doomsday again to not deck myself after swinging with Emrakul. Damn. Payback for that Tendrils off the top earlier, I guess.
6-3 (12-8, 25-11)
Disappointing ending to the day, but at least I make Day 2 and I'm still live for T8!
Grab some BBQ and more Stimutacs from the gas station before passing out in hopes of feeling better for an early start the next day. It doesn't work...
Day 2:
All of the supplies I've gotten are consumed (5 hour energy, Coffee, Monster, and Aleve) and we're off in the morning! Geez... I'm in bad shape.
R10: Miracles (Joe)
I lose the die roll. My hands are visibly shaking from so many Stimutacs...
G1: I keep 7, he goes to 6. He plays T1 Karakas. I can win through that! T3 I go for it - draw a mediocre 14, and get Griselbrand bounced by Karakas. No biggie! 2 Griselbrand + Emrakul in hand. Make Children, Imprint Griselbrand on Chrome Mox, Ritual, Discard Griselbrand, Goryo's Vengeance, Activate Griselbrand. Swords to Plowshares in response. Fuck. I fucked up. Destroy his hand with discard, but leave Monastery Mentor in his hand for some unknown reason. We play draw go for a while... and he eventually taps out (including Karakas) for Mentor! Get some! Brainstorm EOT finding Entomb, put Emrakul back. Make Emrakul my next turn and he scoops in response. Wow, didn't get punished for a major mistake.
G2: Doomsday of course. Go to 6 and grind with Top for a while. Doomsday, Shelldock, and Emrakul get there.
7-3 (14-8, 27-11)
R11: UWR Stoneforge (Alexander)
I don't really remember this match. I'll try to piece together a likely story from shitty notes... I win the die roll.
G1: I keep 7, he goes to 6. Probe sees 2 Brainstorm, Clique, Stoneforge, Batterskull, and Flooded Strand. Therapy strips the Brainstorms. Cantrip for a bit, he makes Stoneforge grabbing Jitte and I probe seeing he has True Name Nemesis. I don't care about that. So I give him some Onions to chew on from 14 life.
G2: Switch to Doomsday. Blind Therapy misses, and sees Counterspell, Jace, True Name Nemesis, Batterskull, REB, and Force. I grind with Top getting rid of Force, and eventually Doomsday, Shelldock gets there.
8-3 (16-8, 29-11)
R12: Infect (Paul)
I win the die roll and Paul mentions he hasn't Legacied much in over a year. That gives me a good read for later...
G1: Probe sees a decent T3-ish infect hand with no disruption. Too bad Tin Fins bursts Onions on T2 most of the time. He dies.
G2: I didn't see white from him, and his comment about not playing Legacy for a while leads me to believe he is on an old list without Rest in Peace. Stay Tin Fins. I have fetchland lifeloss written down for both of us this game and that is it. I think he kills me T2.
G3: T1 discard his Force. T2 Probe shows Daze as the only available interaction for him - I can beat that with the multiple Petals in my hand. Tendrils him to death pre-combat. So many Onions!
9-3 (18-9, 31-12)
R13: Shardless BUG (Neal)
He wins the die roll
G1: We both mull to 5. Ouch. He makes a Deathrite, then my probe reveals a hand of 2x Shardless Agent and 1 Liliana. Yep, don't care about those! Here... let me get you some Onions.
G2: I can't switch to Doomsday fast enough. He makes T1 Deathrite again. I still don't care. Probe reveals a no counterspell hand, so I Tendrils him for 22 on T1 off of Doomsday. All the Onions!!
10-3 (20-9, 33-12)
Feeling good, and still live for Top8! 2 More!
R14: Imperial Taxes (Colin/hill_giant)
He wins the die roll.
G1: I have a great hand with LDV that discards Thalia after he plays Karakas. He ports me and I entomb. He ports me again and I LDV in response to set up the next turn kill. He's got vial at 3 when I do... I go off, he bounces with Karakas. Keep going off, and he flickerwisps Griselbrand. Oh well, insane hand for the next turn kill. Discard all of his business and pass. He draws, bounces my Griselbrand with Karakas and passes back. Proceed to make Griselbrand again. Flickerwisp off the top exiles him AGAIN! I die to Flickerwisp beats the following turn. Good Lord!
G2: He keeps 7. I mull to... 4. Gross. Its a Fetchland, Needle, Petal, and Shallow Grave. Could be way worse. I T1 Needle Karakas - Ding! But I never draw anything else and die to Canonist beats, with a Magus of the Moon thrown in later for good measure. Sad. :(
10-4 (20-11, 33-14)
Dead for T8 but I can still T16!
R15: ANT (Justin)
He wins the die roll. I don't offer the draw for T32 as the winner has a good shot at T16, and the loser could still make T32.
G1: We discard each other for a little bit, but Griselbrand proves to be the better draw engine for storm as I dole out Justin's dose of Onions.
G2: I mull to 6, he keeps 7. His discard gets there as I lose to an Ad Nauseum.
G3: This is a really close game with lots of back and forth discard - my Therapy takes his Infernal Tutor and his Ponder can't find more business. He cantrips while I make Griselbrand, providing the last of my Onions for the weekend.
11-4 (22-12, 35-15)
I barely squeak into T16 on Breakers, while Justin (my R15 opponent) gets 32nd! Perfect! Overall, the kids put in some damn fine work on the weekend harvesting and doling out onions to unsuspecting nerds. End up playing some terrible casual modern with HoneyT and the Des Moines crew for a bit before packing it in. Lobster boil for celebratory dinner - yay! Hit up Pai Gow on the way out of town and end up $150 there too! Good weekend for cards!
As always, If any of my opponents read this and want to correct anything, please let me know. My memory is even worse of this event than most. Seriously, I was pretty ill this weekend. I tried to use generous amounts of Hand Sanitzier to try to avoid getting you all sick... I did my best! Promise!
Props to:
- St. Louis Crew - Acclimation and friends were awesome!
- Meeting emidln and talking Doomsday, Combo, embedded systems. And at least getting to kill him with Doomsday. :)
- Hanging with Tim/HoneyT and meeting the Des Moines guys (Hi Kai!)
- Meeting feline (albeit briefly)
- Meeting and chatting a lot with Chris Wessel
- Boulder Crew (Dustin, Eldon, Dom/shocked439 (thanks for the infect testing!), and Conor/Wanderlust) for helping me test and get back in shape
- Overall great opponents - not much salt this weekend, and many ended up chatting me up throughout the event
Slops:
- HoneyT's event/record. Geez, sorry dude. Get that out of your system before Seattle!
- Holy Shit Pod 6 and my respiratory system. I still can't talk without coughing.
- St. Louis and lack of transportation options - impossible to get anywhere there without a car (but I knew that already...)
- Fire Alarm during round 14 - wtf? That was insane
- Death and Taxes. Good god I just can't beat that deck.
Fun event Hopefully I didn't miss anyone... see you nerds in Seattle!
(Also, I can't seem to get into Wizards' site right now to make sure everyone's names are correct. I'll get that updated when I get a chance)
Last edited by .dk; 10-27-2015 at 05:37 PM.
Find me on Twitter: @beanaman
Originally Posted by Richard Cheese
Thanks for starting the glacier testing back up. I'll infect you out any time you want. Way to represent Boulder.
Great report, I love the pithing needle through a missed trigger victory.
Funniest report I've read in months. I expect no less from the master of the Onion Burst.
Lord of the Chalice
Stompy Discord: https://discord.gg/6cesvkz
Another great report and showing of the Gris. Great meeting you good sir; cheers to the Onions
So you're telling me I should switch back to TinFins for the GP? You silver-tongued devil. Sick finish, nice report!
Languages and dates for every set. For all you true pimps.
THREAD GOT ME ALL LIKE
I think the biggest thing is the deep seeded emotional understanding that the right play is the right play regardless of outcomes. The ability to make a decision 5 straight times, lose 5 times because of it, and still make it the 6th time if it's the right play. - Jon Finkel
"Notions of chance and fate are the preoccupation of men engaged in rash undertakings."
What was the Doomsday pile that you beat Shardless with on the mulligan to five? Or what could you use to win?
My god...I wonder what that TES player was thinking. I assume he could've gone for a Tendrils line.
Thanks Greg! And you know you want the Onions... Both you AND Silas! :) that said, I obviously needed a good bit of luck and mistakes from my opponents to get there.
@zach - the mull to 5 against shardless was on Tin Fins. Unless I'm missing something. But you could have a 5 like petal, petal, ritual, doomsday, SDT, and draw into probe. That would work.
@beardtron - yeah I have no idea. Worst case he could have used his chain of vapor to bounce artifact mana back to his hand and generate storm. I was dead. In many variations. No two ways about it.
Find me on Twitter: @beanaman
Slops to me for failing to bounce Stony Silence when my opponent was tapped out during the multiple times in that game and then cracking Mindslaver to get ahead and not die.
Tinfins & Bizarro Stormy & Belcher & DDFT
@acclimation6 on twitter
Back to back t1 kills at SCG STL 2013:
https://youtu.be/kk3crCPsNLg
Oh how I wish you were describing a match of Legacy with Mindslaver...
Find me on Twitter: @beanaman
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