Time Vault Games Legacy Open with Dark Lands - Finals Split

[Emrakul503]

Hello everyone! I finished first in the inaugural Time Vault Games Legacy Open in Portland, OR. The decks I was choosing between were RG 12-Post, RG Lands and RGb Lands. Post has an amazing Miracles matchup, and does very well against the weenie/Delver decks with its board wipes and Punishing Fire engine, but Lands generally has more game against an unknown/wider field, so I figured this was the best choice. The black splash was amazing, and I really enjoyed playing Dark Confidants and discard out of the side. As I did not take thorough notes during the event, I do not have an accurate recount of the exact sideboard choice I made, but I have a pretty good idea. Feel free to ask any questions or offer any critiques!

This is the list I played:

1 Bayou
1 Bojuka Bog
3 Dark Depths
1 Forest
1 Glacial Chasm
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Maze of Ith
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Rishadan Port
2 Taiga
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
4 Thespian's Stage
2 Tranquil Thicket
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Crop Rotation
4 Gamble
4 Life from the Loam
3 Punishing Fire
4 Exploration
4 Mox Diamond

SIDEBOARD
3 Dark Confidant
1 Dark Depths
1 Duress
1 Karakas
2 Krosan Grip
2 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Thoughtseize
1 Zuran Orb

Round 1: Miracles

We play a really long and grindy game 1, which involves me making Thespian's Stage a copy of Rishadan Port, and tapping down 3-4 of his lands per turn. Eventually, he eventually Ults a Jace, and we head into game 2.

+2 Krosan Grip
+3 Dark Confidant
+1 Dark Depths

-4 Wasteland
-1 Tabernacle
-1 Maze of Ith (I think)

He durdled for a bit and I made a 20/20 in a reasonable amount of time. The whole game was about 5 minutes, as we only had 16 minutes on the clock when the game started, we moved fairly quickly.

Game 3, he assembled a pretty solid lock, including multiple Blood Moons and had a Wear//Tear floating on the top, preventing me from casting basically anything. My opponent Surgically Extracted my Life from the Loams, slowing me down immensely. Eventually he made 5 angels, and I conceded to use the restroom before the next round.

Round 2: Death and Taxes

Game 1 he gets 2 Vials online really fast, but is not really pumping out any threats. I get one piece of the combo, that is met by a Wasteland followed up by a Mirran Crusader. Mr. Crusader proceeds to do 8 damage to me before I Gamble for a Punishing Fire that ends up in my GY, but I could buy it back with Grove and kill the Crusader. I dredge the other half of the combo the next turn, which is met by a swift Swords to Plowshires. As I rebuild, he reveals 2 more Swords and tells me its a losing race while he picks ups his cards.

+1 Dark Depths
+2 Krosan Grip

-2 Rishadan Port
-1 Bojuka Bog

Game 2 he gets a T1 Vial again and starts getting Mother of Rune beats in. I assemble the combo by T4 and we manage to finish both games with 25 minutes on the clock.

Round 3: Grixis Delver

So this is a pretty bad matchup for him, and he had just lost to my friend playing RG lands the round before, so he knew what was going to happen. I don't really remember what happened in game one, but I had an answer for his threats, and none could stop the great ice sorceress.

+4 Thoughtseize
+1 Duress

-2 Thickets
-2 Rishadan Port
-1 Maze of Ith

I do not think my SB plan was very sound, but I didn't think the Ports were super relevant, as I knew he did not play basics. And I was right. I proceeded to Wasteland lock him pretty early, and then finally Dredged 2x P Fires, killing anything he dropped, and ultimately him.

Round 4: Reanimator

This match was against a good friend of mine, and we both knew exactly what the other was playing. I have only recently come back to lands, so we had not played against each other yet. Game 1, I think it was a timely Crop Rotation for a Bog that got him, and he had Careful Studied his only fatties. I believe there was some Wastelanding involved as well.

+1 Karakas
+2 Thorn of Amethyst

-3 Some stuff

As this goes on, I am realizing how bad I am at remembering things. Maybe the vacuum of fun I was surrounded with sucked this out of my memory, but this game was pretty quick. He did not force a T1 Exploration and it cost him the game. I assembled the combo pretty quickly, and was Maze of Ithing anything he had out.

Round 5: Miracles

Game 1 he gets an early Counterbalance, but it meets an Abrupt Decay, so I manage to get going. I knew what he was on, but I am not sure he knew what I was on, so he fetched for nonbasics initially. This allowed me to Waste him off mana long enough to go full Cthulu on him.

+3 Dark Confidant
+4 Thoughtseize
+1 Duress
+2 Krosan Grip

-4 Wasteland
-1 Tabernacle
-3 Maze of Ith
-1 Gamble

Game 2 I decided I was okay playing 61 cards, as I knew I had a lot of work a head of me. Bob helped me see some cards, but it was not enough. T1 Top, T2 RiP (which eats a Decay), T3 RiP, then he played some sequence of threats I could not overcome, one of which being Jace and one being a Clique. Jace is just a beating, I do want to find a better way to beat this card.

Game 3 I play 2 Mox and Dark Depths, then T2 a 20/20. A very upset version of my opponent reveals 2 lands, a Jace, RiP, 2 Blood Moon and a Counterbalance.


Round 6: Burn

The previous Thursday, I had played against this same opponent playing Burn, in preparation for this tournament. The games played out almost the same, actually. Well the ones I won anyway. He T1 a Goblin Guide both games, which gets me a Maze of Ith right off the bat (he revealed one G1, and I drew one after drawing a revealed land G2), so I am able to Maze. He kept attacking though, incase I didn't, which brought me some advantage. I was able to get the combo together at reasonable pace with this, and got a quick G1.

+1 Zuran Orb
+2 Krosan Grip (was afraid of Blood Moon and Ensnaring bridge, but did not see one in any of the games we played on either days)

-3 Wasteland

G1 is Similar. I drop a T1 Zuran Orb and Mox Diamond, then get my loan in the GY. I have a P Fire in hand, but like the lands so I let him get some hits in. He drops a 2nd Goblin, I drop a Maze and Fire the 1st one. I find the combo the next turn and get to watch the Dredge vs Burning Reanimator game next to me.

TOP8

Round 1: Halloween Party

It is sort of like 4 color zombies. Here is the list: http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=12060&d=269188&f=LE - I am familiar with this player, and he has been playing the sameish list for a while now, so I know what I am up against. Game 1 was incredibly grindy, actually they all were. He gets a Gravecrawler, and I have mostly colorless lands, so I Ith and Rishadan Port him for probably 15-20 turns before I can assemble the win. He gets some Lingering Souls tokens to block, while -2 a Lily to keep old Marit down, but she keeps coming back, and he only has so much soul. I eventually eat it.

+3 Bob

-1 Tabernacle
-1 Thicket
-1 Wasteland

Game 1 he played mostly basics, so I assumed there was some sort of Blood Moon situation going on, so I kept a good hand, and chose to draw for a while to try and find a Decay. Nothing comes together favorably, and his DRS eat my GY, while he deploys Lily and Tidehollows to keep me honest. This game begins to go on a bit long, and it was pretty clear there was no way I was winning, so I scooped them up.

+1 Duress
-1 Urborg

Game 3 was also glacial. He gets a Mirri's Guile on T1, and I hold up Decay for Blood Moon basically forever. I get an Exploration and some Ports and an Ith in to keep his one threat down, then more or less dead draw into more Ports and the like. I FINALLY get a Lage going, and he Diabolic Edict's twice, followed up by a Lily Sac before I finally can close out the game. I think I had like 14 or less cards in my deck. This round took about 75 minutes.

Round 2: Burning Reanimator

G1 he just goes full combo mode. I had a Crop Rotation in hand, but totally punt by not leaving up green after playing an Exploration (which I had a source in hand, but chose to play a Thespians Stage instead for some unknown reason), so he proceeds to punish me for it by T1 Griselbrand. I put up a good amount of resistance with a Maze and Tabernacle for a while, but he gets to a 2nd land, then reanimates a Grave Titan. I do get a 2nd ith, but he keeps churning out and paying for the tokens, and eventually gets to the critical mass turn where he can Ritual enough mana to keep enough alive to kill me.

+1 Karakas
+2 Thorn
+4 Thoughtseize
+1 Duress

-3 Decay
-1 Tabernacle
-1 Thicket
-2 Ports
-1 P Fire

This game was epic. If I could have recorded one match all day, it would have been this one. I get an exploration and the like going early, bluffing the Crop Rotation, but instantly draw it the next turn. I do manage to get him with one while he is casting Exhume. I do not see a Gamble or a Loam for a great long while. I am able to keep him down, but he gets an Ashen Rider to kill my one Maze, but I have a back up. He gets a Griselbrand out and brings himself down to 5. At this point I have a Loam in my GY and the engine is going, just nothing has come of it. He passes, my only line is to dredge for a Glacial Chasm, and on the third card, there she blows! I assemble the lock, then P Fire him into oblivion.

+1 P Fire
+1 Thicket
-2 Thorn

I Thoughtseize him T1 after dropping an Exploration and he Entombs a Griselbrand and shows me 4x 2 mana reanimate spells and 1x Coffin Purge. I had the combo in hand, so I just played it next turn. If he drew a land the following turn, he had a fighting chance, likely even the win, but did not. He had a land on the top of his deck, and so it goes.


After a long exhausting day with a 2 hour drive ahead of me, my opponent (Miracles) and I decided to split. It was a long day and neither of us really wanted to play the other, so we made our arrangements and he conceded to me. I am very pleased with the inclusion of Dark Confidant and Abrupt Decay in the deck. I think this is incredibly powerful tech, and would advise anyone with the resources to add this color to your Lands deck to try it out. I may go back to RG at some point, but am very happy with this deck at the moment. Thanks for reading!

[Dice_Box]

Good list. Also yes, Reanimator is a pain. I am glad to see your did well and I am very impressed with your list.

Thank you for the report.

[ESG]

TOP8

Round 1: Halloween Party

It is sort of like 4 color zombies. Here is the list: http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=12060&d=269188&f=LE - I am familiar with this player, and he has been playing the sameish list for a while now, so I know what I am up against.

Pretty happy to see this. Glowparty is a Sourcer who was uncharitably dismissed from the Zombardment thread because his list was different. He obviously stuck with it despite the lack of feedback, and that tenacity is paying off.

[Emrakul503]

Pretty happy to see this. Glowparty is a Sourcer who was uncharitably dismissed from the Zombardment thread because his list was different. He obviously stuck with it despite the lack of feedback, and that tenacity is paying off.

That is awesome to hear, thanks for chiming in. I wll ask him about that next I see him. He has been on that deck basically as long as I've been playing Legacy.