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Thread: Top 4 at IWMC GPT Denver with TES

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    Top 4 at IWMC GPT Denver with TES

    Last weekend, I decided last minute to play in a GPT at the local comic shop. With the GP weeks away, I decided to bring TES to get some much needed reps. I played Bryant's list with the following board:

    1 IGG
    1 Past in Flames
    1 Diminishing Returns
    1 Pyroclasm
    1 Cabal Therapy
    1 Empty the Warrens
    1 Tendrils of Agony
    2 Karakas
    2 Abrupt Decay
    2 Chain of Vapor
    2 Pyroblast

    It was 34 players, meaning 6 rounds + top 8.

    Round 1: U/R Delver 2-0
    I played against local ringer (but total legacy n00b) Tom Carmody. Game one he's on the play with turn 1 and 2 delver. I make 14 tokens on turn 2 and it's off to game 2. He surprisingly didn't counter my silence, instead opting to bolt me. Game 2 was super easy, as I make 10 goblins turn 1 off a mull to 6.

    Round 2: ANT 2-0
    I played against the other local storm player. He's been on ANT since midsummer. Game 1 he probe-therapies me. I duress away his hand and empty for 12. It get there. Game 2 he goes all in on a burning wish (storm 6, 10 black floating). I have the silence.

    Round 3: RUG Delver 2-1
    Game 1 he puts me on noncombo, opting to tap out for a goyf, instead of leaving mana up for a potential stifle/pierce. He gets punished when I silence and shit out massive amounts of goblin tokens. Game 2 I mull to 6 and keep a no lander. I don't draw land the rest of the game. I felt fine on the keep, because it had a lotus petal, ritual, and LED. Game 3 was super close. I make 18 tokens on turn 4, while he's at 16 life (he has no creatures in play). I upkeep silence him. He responds by brainstorming, then dazing it. He replays his tropical, ponders, and shows me the rough/tumble in his hand (but no red mana).

    Round 4: RUG Delver 2-1
    Game 1 I bait a few counterspells with an orims chant, and then go off easily. He wrecks me game 2 with the wasteland, daze, daze, stifle plan. Game three, he mulls to 5 and we play draw go for quite a bit. He's stuck on 1 mana and is reluctant to tap, signaling he has a potential stilfe/pierce. I duress and see triple!!! stifle and BEB. I take the BEB, empty for 12. He stifles, I pyroblast. GG.

    Round 4 + 5: Intentional Draw

    Top 8: Esper Stoneblade 2-1
    Game 1 he mulls to 5 and keeps a hand with stoneforge, 2 lands, and swords. I comment how awesome it would have been against anything but me. I play Ad Naus at 18 life and tendrils for 20+. Game 2 was very close as well. It comes down to basically having him miss on an inquisition. My hand was pyroblast, manas, and burning wish, with infernal on top. He correctly takes pyroblast and leaves me a mana short of comboing off. A great call by Hans.
    Game 3, he mulls to 5 again, and I cast Ad Naus on turn 2 for the win.

    At this point my record is 5-0-2 and it's getting late. I decide to concede to Hans (A very nice guy) and go spend time with my fiancee. I'm told he lost in the finals to RUG, so I probably should have stayed and crushed.

    The top 8 was:
    1 TES
    2 RUG Delver
    1 Walking Dead
    2 Esper Stoneblade
    2 BUG control

    A couple of thoughts about the deck and the Denver Metagame:

    *Empty the warrens is absolutely savage. It gives the TES deck a way to win at low life against tempo decks. I've always thought one of the bigger weaknesses about TES was it's huge dependency on Ad Nauseum. No more. In all my games vs. RUG, I went off at around 10 life knowing they don't have the reach to kill me, or a way to kill tokens. However, this may change in the future if they start to board in more rough/tumbles or Engineered Explosives. The deck is resilient enough to go for the Tendrils kill when empty is bad (basically against the mirror, or stoneblade). Because empty the warens has moved to the main, I don't think it's correct to cut any burning wish, as you want as many ways as possible to potentially find a tendrils.

    *Pyroblast was insane all tourney. It was initially there as a way to fight high tide/Sneak show, but I find myself bringing one in against virtually any blue based control deck.

    *Chrome Mox was MVP all day. It's like a basic land that nobody ever counters. I won at least one game against RUG because they didn't feel the need to daze it.

    *Holy fucking shit people love RUG delver here. In the last 3 tourneys I played, I've played against RUG delver 6 times! All the best players here are either on RUG, or BUG. This is probably really obvious, but if you want to do well in Denver, have a plan against those decks.

    *I really liked my sideboard, but felt like I was missing one more discard effect. The Karakas have been pretty much useless to me since I added them in. Going forward, I'll be playing: -2 Karakas, +1 Tropical Island, +1 Cabal Therapy. Having an extra land in the heavy control matchups seems good to me.

    Anyways, I'll be playing in a couple of more tournaments before GP Denver and posting my thoughts in the TES thread. If any sourcers want to meet up the week before the GP (either to test, or to drink), let me know.

  2. #2
    shallow
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    Re: Top 4 at IWMC GPT Denver with TES

    Nice report. I do find it somewhat comical that you conceded to Hans when he already had 2 byes... ;)

    TES seems like a great choice at the moment - but beware of the T2 Pulse on your goblins from BUG decks potentially. Although with your draw skills, guessing it won't be a problem.
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  3. #3
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    Re: Top 4 at IWMC GPT Denver with TES

    Congrats on the t4! I'm pretty sure I'm going to be TES'ing in Denver too.

    I get in Friday afternoon, so if you want to meet up that evening for dinner or something that would be cool, also taked t. PM me if you're interested.

    So is Pyroblast only relevant when you go for the in-hand Empty or...what, have inf mana and storm and a Burning Wish kill? Doesn't seems good on first glance. What was your thought process for the changes to the board?

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    Re: Top 4 at IWMC GPT Denver with TES

    Quote Originally Posted by phazonmuant View Post
    Congrats on the t4! I'm pretty sure I'm going to be TES'ing in Denver too.

    I get in Friday afternoon, so if you want to meet up that evening for dinner or something that would be cool, also taked t. PM me if you're interested.

    So is Pyroblast only relevant when you go for the in-hand Empty or...what, have inf mana and storm and a Burning Wish kill? Doesn't seems good on first glance. What was your thought process for the changes to the board?
    @Pyroblast: The main reason I want this over another discard effect is because most blue decks are mana constrained when playing against TES. Do they tap out for that delver/goyf? How about for that sensei's diving top? What happens if they have one mana up? There have been many instances where my opponent has held both pierce and stifle up with only 1 blue. A discard effect would not have done much, whereas pyroblast outright won me the game. There's 0 maverick right now, so I feel comfortable not having therapies/IoK to bring in against the hatebear deck. Having the extra pyroblasts have been pretty stellar against the random high tide/sneak show opponents too.

    Also, PM me if you want to meet. I think a bunch of local ringers will be meeting at the local LGS Friday night to make some last minute decisions on our legacy decks.

  5. #5
    Bryant Cook
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    Re: Top 4 at IWMC GPT Denver with TES

    Quote Originally Posted by Clown of Tresserhorn View Post
    @Pyroblast: The main reason I want this over another discard effect is because most blue decks are mana constrained when playing against TES. Do they tap out for that delver/goyf? How about for that sensei's diving top? What happens if they have one mana up? There have been many instances where my opponent has held both pierce and stifle up with only 1 blue. A discard effect would not have done much, whereas pyroblast outright won me the game. There's 0 maverick right now, so I feel comfortable not having therapies/IoK to bring in against the hatebear deck. Having the extra pyroblasts have been pretty stellar against the random high tide/sneak show opponents too.

    Also, PM me if you want to meet. I think a bunch of local ringers will be meeting at the local LGS Friday night to make some last minute decisions on our legacy decks.
    Except it has a terrible interaction with Lion's Eye Diamond which is way more relevant.

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