[Report] T4 Dutch Legacy Champs with Ichorid

[Lukas Preuss]

I promised to write a report, so here it is. I actually wanted to write it more elaborately, make a little story out of it, but I just can't find the time.

The plan was to either sweep the Dutch Champs (and the unprepared Dutch metagame) with Ichorid or completely scrub out due to massive amounts of hate. Sebastian Ofner (fellow team aYb member) and I had been testing the deck extensively and I had been playing it for the past few weeks at my local shop. We decided to cut Gambles, Careful Studies and make the game 1 combo most explosive with Dread Returns and Sages, because we hoped to find Holland unprepared for Ichorid. After a two hours drive (yep, Europe must seem small to you Americans), we arrived at the site and met with Julian Brüggemann (who after some talk ended up playing exactly the same Ichorid list), Alex Kimpel, Erich Blümel, and Chris Wilczek (who hadn't slept all night because he was out partying). Later, we meet some other Germans inside the building, as well.

This is the list I played:
// Lands
4 [OD] Cephalid Coliseum
4 [WL] Gemstone Mine
4 [AN] City of Brass

// Creatures
4 [TO] Ichorid
4 [RAV] Stinkweed Imp
4 [FUT] Narcomoeba
4 [RAV] Golgari Thug
4 [RAV] Golgari Grave-Troll
4 [TO] Putrid Imp
1 [RAV] Flame-Kin Zealot
1 [TO] Cephalid Sage

// Spells
3 [TO] Deep Analysis
4 [TO] Breakthrough
4 [FUT] Bridge from Below
4 [MI] Lion's Eye Diamond
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy
3 [TSP] Dread Return

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [TSP] Ancient Grudge
SB: 4 [GP] Leyline of the Void
SB: 4 [ON] Chain of Vapor
SB: 4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
SB: 1 [JU] Ray of Revelation

Alex Kimpel and Chris Wilczek chose to play the aYb Hybrid Fish list that currently sees some discussion over in the Ugb Threshold thread.

Well, after the registration, we walk around the site. There is a huge gaming convention going on in the rest of the building, so you see some elves, wizards, etc. Then, the tournament starts. There are something around 120-130 players.

Round 1 – Boros.dec:
Game 1: We sit down and talk a little bit. Then the game starts. I keep a mediocre hand, he starts with some white creatures (I think Silver Knight, Solitari Priest) and starts attacking. I start dredging and therapy him, taking all his burn spells. Then I proceed to make tokens, attack, and win.
Game2: He boards some cards, I don't. Most of his creatures have protection from red, so he can't even burn them to remove my bridges. I keep a very good hand, and win on the second turn. GG.
1-0

Round 2 – aYb Hybrid Fish (UGwb):
I get paired against Alex Kimpel, we draw, because neither of us wants to kick the other one out of the tournament.
1-0-1

Round 3 - Terrageddon:
This game is against Hugo van Dyke, the inventor of Terrageddon. Known on the internet (over on TMD mostly, I think) as 49 cents. He is actually a very good player. At the last Dutch Championship Dennis Kampelmann and Chris Wilczek, both on team aYb, played against him and he did quite a good job. I think he's also pretty big in Vintage. So anyways, we sit own, and talk a bit, then the game starts.
Game 1: This is actually pretty easy, I therapy him naming Solitary Confinement, because there is no other dangerous card in his main deck for me (I think). Then, I combo out pretty savely.
Game 2: I keep a mediocre hand, he stomps me with Mongrels and Tarmogoyfs. I lose.
Game 3: This was one of the most interesting games I had during the tournament. Sadly, I can't remember all the details. Basically I therapy him for Tormod's Crypt, hitting one in his opening hand. Then I proceed to dredge slowly. He stabilizes himself, gets two Tarmogoyfs and I'm not able to kill him yet, when he plays Eternal Witness, and Crypts me again. I now have a few Zombie tokens, and no way to continue dredging. I start hardcasting Golgari Thugs to block his Tarmogoyfs and put Narcomoebas on top of my library. I slowly attack with Narcomoebas, while he gets me really low on life, as well. He finally makes a mistake when he could have hold back an attack and played Pernicious Deed to wipe my board the next turn. This cost him the game and I win.
2-0-1

Round 4 – 4c Landstill:
Now I'm getting to the top tables. 4C Landstill is almost an auto-win for me game 1. He has no chance and I win it. Game 2 he doesn't bring in any hate, because he didn't think he was going to be facing Ichorid. Too bad. I win.
3-0-1

After that round, I scan the other top tables to see what they have in their sideboard. Very valuably information, because now I know what hate I will be facing post board and know how to board accordingly. I see some Crypts, Explosives, Leylines. Well, let's see how that turns out.

Round 5 – Ugr Threshold with Wastelands:
Game 1: I win this one like I should. He gets me down to 17 when I combo out on him.
Game 2: I know he will bring in Crypt and Explosives, so I board Chalice. He goes: Land, pass the turn and I cast Chalice, thinking I'm save. I hadn't seen his Wastelands in game 1, so now he cast Explosives off the Wasteland, destroys my Chalice and Crypts my almost full graveyard. Then he casts another Crypt. Damn. I lose.
Game 3: He doesn't draw his hate. I win.
4-0-1

Round 6 – Black Madness (don't know):
I watched his last game against Loam Control and he seems to have Leyline in the board. Nice to know. Game 1 is simple, he casts a Rootwalla, attacks for three and then I combo out on him with 2 Deep Analyses and 2 LED.
Game 2: I know he brings in Leyline, so I keep a nice hand with Chain of Vapor. He mulls to 6 or 5 to get his Leyline. I bounce it and combo off.
5-0-1

Round 7:
We're both in anyways, so we draw and go to Burger King to get some snacks for the upcoming T8 playoffs.
5-0-2


T8:
Round 1:
I sit down and play against Ruud Something, a big Dutch pro appearantly. He tells me he is just playing to practice for Worlds. I look over his decklist and see that he plays Deadguy Ale. Probably one of my best matchups. But he has Leyline in the board.
Game 1: I actually can't lose this one. I keep a slow hand, but win anyways.
Game 2: We both draw our 7 cards and he starts thinking. I'm thinking as well, because I don't have a Chain of Vapors in my hand, but otherwise a very solid hand with LED, Grave Troll and Breakthrough. I somehow anticipate that the pro on the other site of the table won't risk to through away an otherwise solid hand to find Leyline, just to have me bounce it. He starts the game and doesn't have it. I make a happy dance and start dredging like a madman. Somehow I don't find what I need and at some point have a hand full of dredgers and no useful card in the yard. His only creature is a Hypnotic specter, though, so my chances are still good. He attacks with it, I discard Grave Trolls, continue dredging and eventually hit something useful. His Dark Confidants trouble me somewhat, because I don't want to block them, but when he is on 4 life, he reveals Leyline. I win.
So, Leyline won me the game. Yeah.

Round 2: This is against my teammate Chris Wilczek, who is by now quite exhausted since he played through all the tournament without any sleep at all. On the other table, TES and ATS fight against each other. We sit down, start joking, having a good time and I kill him turn 2 eventhough he extirpates my Ichorids. Game 2 he brings in Yxlid Jailers and even more Extirpates and I slowly lose to him. By now a big crowd is standing around us, and on the other table, TES just won against ATS. A somewhat bad matchup for me but almost an autowin for him. We shuffle it up for game 3 and I'm like: „Sure you don't want to scoop?“ he: „Yeah, I think I can scoop. But why don't you scoop?“ „Scoop? Yeah? I could do that.“
And so we determined who would be Dutch Legacy Champ. Chris proceeded to the Finals and won 2-0 against TES – becoming the reigning Dutch Legacy Champ without any sleep at all. Congratulations.

[lolosoon]

Congrats for your result and for your aYb Champ Buddy !

For sure, SB scouting is Tech when playing Ichorid... ^^;

So, about your build's 59th & 60th cards : Extra Thug and Dread Return, no regrets ? Gamble have been tested and dismissed, but what about a second Sage ?! One is enought to Combo off ?!

Edit: Oh, and many thanks for your report btw. Ichorid seems less a Glass Canon in your hands than in mines... =)

[Peter_Rotten]

Do you have anymore information for this event? Date? (Was this recent or old?) Attendance? (7 rounds = how many ppl again?) T8 decks and lists?

[Soto]

http://www.germagic.de/dc/event.php?...ap+Legacy+2007

Some info.

[Waikiki]

What is your overall sb plan against the most common matchups?

[matelml]

It was the 25th of November, there were about 125 people.

T8 Decklists:

Winner: Christian Wilczek

Deckname: #aYb.ridshit-Streichholzschächtelchen

Maindeck:
3 Tropical Island
3 Undergrond Sea
2 Tundra
1 Island
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Wasteland
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
2 Hoofprints of the Stag
4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
2 Sensei Divining Top
3 Daze
3 Stifle
3 Spell Snare
4 Force of Will
3 Smother
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Extirpate

Sideboard:
4 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Extirpate
2 Krosan Grip
3 Counterbalance
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Yixlid Jailer


Finalist: Matteus Lamers

Deckname: TES

Maindeck:
4 Orim’s Chant
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Burning Wish
4 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
2 Plunge into Darkness
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Ill-gotten Gains
1 Diminishing Returns
3 Empty the Warrens
4 Dark Ritual
4 Rite of Flame
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 City of Brass
4 Chrome Mox
4 Gemstone Mine
2 Undiscovered Paradise
1 Tomb of Urami
4 Lotus Petal

Sideboard:
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
4 Duress
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Grapeshot
1 Shattering Spree
1 Rough//Tumble


Semi-Finalist: Douwe van Noordenburg

Deckname: Survival Tricks

Maindeck:
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Wall of Roots
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
4 Tradewind Rider
2 Quirion Ranger
2 Flametongue Kavu
1 Gilded Drake
3 Eternal Witness
1 Anger
1 Genesis
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Spore Frog
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 Spike Feeder
1 Goblin Pyromancer
4 Survival of the Fittest
3 Enlightened Tutor
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Tropical Island
3 Savannah
2 Taiga
3 Forest
4 Windswepth Heath
2 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard:
1 Absolute Law
1 Worship
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Null Rod
1 Looming Shaman
1 Arcane Laboratory
1 Seal of Primordium
2 Gaea’s Blessing
1 Ronom Unicorn
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Fire Imp


Semi-Finalist: Lukas Preuss

Deckname: Ichorid

Maindeck:
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Cephlid Coliseum
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Putrid Imp
4 Ichorid
4 Golgari Grave Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Thug
4 Narcomoeba
1 Flame-kin Zealot
1 Cephalid Sage
4 Bridge from Below
4 Breakthrough
3 Deep Analysis
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Dread Return

Sideboard:
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Chain of Vapor
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Ray of Revelation


Quarter-Finalist: Ziming Chen

Deckname: Pikula’s Homebrew

Maindeck:
4 Wasteland
3 Scrubland
1 Godless Shrine
4 Polluted Delta
2 Tainted Field
7 Swamp
4 Dark Confidant
3 Jötun Grunt
3 Nantuko Shade
2 Withered Wretch
3 Hypnotic Spectre
4 Sinkhole
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Vindicate
4 Dark Ritual
4 Swords to Plowshares

Sideboard:
4 Engineered Plague
2 Masticore
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
3 Extirpate
2 Withered Wretch
2 Pithing Needle

Quarter-Finalist: Ruud Warmenhoven

Deckname: Olaf’s Homebrew

4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
4 Nantuko Shade
4 Hypnotic Spectre
4 Dark Ritual
2 Swords to Plowshares
4 Thoughtseize
4 Sinkhole
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Vindicate
4 Bayou
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scrubland
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Swamp
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Smother
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
3 Engineered Plague
2 Chalice of the Void


Quarter-Finalist: Martijn van der Vaart

Deckname: Engineered CALL

Maindeck:
4 Burning Wish
3 Life from the Loam
2 Seismic Assault
2 Solitary Confinement
3 Lightning Helix
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Eternal Witness
2 Flametongue Kavu
2 Loxodon Hierarch
1 Genesis
4 Mox Diamond
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Horizon Canopy
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Windswept Heath
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Savannah
2 Taiga
2 Plateau
3 Wasteland
2 Forgotten Cave
2 Secluded Steppe
3 Tranquil Thicket

Sideboard:
1 Life from the Loam
3 Pyroclasm
1 Molten Disaster
1 Armageddon
1 Morningtide
2 Flametongue Kavu
2 Loxodon Hierarch
1 Hull Breach
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Shatterstorm


Quarter-Finalist: Ivo Koolhaas

Deckname: Red Deck Wins

Maindeck:
2 Tephraderm
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 Gathan Raiders
4 Arc-Slogger
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Umezawa’s Jitte
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Trinisphere
3 Blood Moon
10 Mountain
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Seething Song
4 Chrome Mox

Sideboard:
3 Ingot Chewer
3 Pithing Needle
2 Tephraderm
2 Trinisphere
4 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Blood Moon

[Lukas Preuss]

So, about your build's 59th & 60th cards : Extra Thug and Dread Return, no regrets ? Gamble have been tested and dismissed, but what about a second Sage ?! One is enought to Combo off ?!

In retrospect, I would run only 11 dredgers and 2 Sages, but it doesn't really make much of a difference. For me, the most important thng was to fit the Dread Return/Sage combo back in to make game 1 very explosive. I haven't lost a single game 1 during the entire tournament, by the way.

What is your overall sb plan against the most common matchups?

Bane_of_the_living wrote much about the sideboard strategies of this deck in the Ichorid thread. It might be a few pages back, but it's still good stuff and the deck hasn't changed that much since then.

[Bane of the Living]

Congrats on a huge finish for the deck and aYb. Did you bring in the Ancient Grudges at all? I havent been playing them, opting for a 2nd Ray and a random tech card like Platinum Angel. Angel is a nightmare for TES and Breakfast.

[Lukas Preuss]

Yes, I wanted to put in a single Platinum Angel before the tournament, but I couldn't get one. I would have cut one Grudge for it.

I did only bring in the Grudges and Rays once, I think, because I didn't know what to expect and didn't want to see any bad surprises.

I never boarded Leyline, by the way, because I didn't face any deck where it seemed necessary...