[Report] ITF - Shackles and Eternal Witness want my man-babies. Top 8 at 1K event.

[Deep6er]

... or "How I only had 5 cards in my sideboard."

So, the trip was actually a complete beating. Dan and I leave Reston around 11:30 and get up to Kevin (beastman)'s place not too long thereafter. We're stopping up in New York City in order to catch up with a friend of mine. While on the Jersey Turnpike and about an hour outside of New York City, I give her a call. Going straight to her voicemail, I tell her that I'm arriving a little later than we planned (traffic was a bitch), but should be there soon. About ten minutes later, she calls me back and says that she thought I was coming yesterday, and was surprised that I was coming today. Beating. She says that she won't be able to catch me that day, and we'd have to do it some other time. Beating again. So, we have to alter our driving plans.

Fortunately, MapQuest was fucking retarded and told us to go SOUTH out of New York City in order to get on the Jersey Turnpike and go straight west until we hit 81. So, since the exit was nearby, that whole debacle turned into a pretty solid 6 hour detour. Fucking SHIT.

We end up getting to Kadilak's place around midnight. We talk for awhile, but get to bed pretty soon after. By the way, beds rock. Seriously. So, waking up at a good nine o' clock in the morning, well rested and ready for the tournament, we make our way up there.

We get in, sign up, and catch up with all the people up there. By the way, I forgot to add this in the props/slops post in the other thread, but serious props to Ray Robillard (and anybody else from that area) who came out to play some Legacy. An absolutely stand-up guy, it was cool having him come out. Unfortunately, there was no Magic Trivia. Which I totally would have won. Just saying.

So, the decklist.

It's the Fear
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Counterbalance
2 Counterspell
1 Life from the Loam
4 Intuition
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Eternal Witness
1 Vedalken Shackles
4 Force of Will

4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Academy Ruins

Sideboard
4 Krosan Grip
4 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Tormod's Crypt

The bolded parts are changes I've made recently. The Tormod's Crypt will be turning into a Fact or Fiction while I test it.

I get some erroneous information that says there are upwards of 7 people playing Ichorid. Having debating the last slot in the maindeck for days now, Dan and I decide to make that a Tormod's Crypt for use in the Survival matchup, and an infinitely small hope of stealing game one from Ichorid. (Theoretically, with Explosives, Swords, and Goyf, you might get enough time to Intuition up the lock with Ruins and Crypt. Also, it's going to snow this weekend in Hell. Movie at 11.)

Anyway, on to the report.

Round 1: Edward playing Mono Green Aggro

His DCI number has the name reported as "Nedwar", so, out of curiosity, I ask him if that's his name. He tells me he's had that number since he was like 11, and thought it would be funny if he had a fake name. Savage.

Game 1: He wins the die roll and plays Skyshroud Elite. My hand is: Delta, Top, Counterbalance, Force of Will, Engineered Explosives, Underground Sea, and some other card that wasn't a land, possibly a Brainstorm. On my turn, I drop the Delta, activate it and play Top. His next turn he attacks me with the Elite. Then, after hitting me, he drops Jungle Lion plus a Bloodthirsty Pit Skulk. Not sure if he's playing Berserk, I decide to play a Counterbalance and hope to hit the third land so I can Explosives his board away.

On his turn, he plays a Might of Old Krosa. I spin the Top (hoping it's a land, which of course it isn't), and counter it. He swings in for six. On my turn, instead of playing both Top and Explosives, I just play Top and pass the turn. On his turn, he plays a Tarmogoyf, so I Brainstorm in response in order to try to hit a land and make sure I can put the Counterspell in my hand on top of my library to counter his Tarmogoyf. I don't hit the land (or even a swords) and die.

Game 2: This one wasn't even a game. I hit my land drops, but I did have to make an unfavorable deed in order to make sure the game stabilized. After that though, the Counterbalance made sure he couldn't play spells.

Game 3: Similar to game two, but I had Shackles.

Round 2: Shane Flanigan (Watcher487) with 9 MILLION COLOR ZOO.

I always like to poke fun at Shane. He's a funny guy, and he always plays every color except for blue in his Zoo decks. I just really like saying "9 MILLION COLOR ZOO". It sounds funny.

Game 1: Not really a game. I stabilized at low life, but Counter/Top locked him out of playing spells. He played a Tin-Street Hooligan on my Top, but I allowed it to resolve (spinning my Top to save it) in order to get in a Vedalken Shackles and killing him with his own Hooligan.

Game 2: Also not a game. I played one spell this entire game. Turn 1 he goes Dark Confidant (with a Chrome Mox). I go land, go. He drops a Tarmogoyf turn 2. I go land, go. He flips an Orim's Chant with Bob. Then, he proceeds to Chant me for the next three turns. Also, I mulliganed. Yikes.

Game 3: Very well fought battle. However, I think Shane wasn't focused enough on mana denial. He resolved a Destructive Flow (because with the three fetches I had on top of my library, I had more lands than he did, AND I had a Krosan Grip), which did more damage to him than it did to me.

Important note: I sideboarded in 1 Krosan Grip and 1 Blue Elemental Blast for these games. I sided out 1 Tormod's Crypt and 1 Counterspell. Crypt is near useless and Counterspell isn't going to help the early game very much. Blast had an infinitely higher usage against Destructive Flow, but I didn't know if he was bringing in things like Choke or Blood Moon. So, I split it. Seems like I didn't have much to board in any scenario.

Round 3: Shane Kelly playing Mostly Blue Painter's Servant.

I'm not going to dissemble here. I don't like the deck. I think it's not as strong as the other options available in Legacy, and I haven't seen a satisfactory list of that deck yet. I could be wrong, but I think the deck may be bad. After I finish sending it through various tests, I'll see what I can say. Since I haven't tested the deck yet, I can only go off of what I've analyzed of the deck itself, and what I've seen other people do with it. Feel free to discuss this here, as I'd like to be proven otherwise since I think it's cool, but as of right now, most of the evidence I have (scant as it is) proves that as cool as it is, it's just not strong enough.

Anyway, on to the games.

Game 1: He opens on Grindstone. I play land, go. His turn 2 is Ponder, go. I play a Counterbalance, which he Forces. His turn 3 is Painter, go. End of his turn, I Swords it, and then on my turn I play another Counterbalance. He loses.

Game 2: I side in my Krosan Grips for various cards, and settle in for what's bound to be amusing. He mulligans to five, and keeps a pretty amazing five card hand. Counterbalance, Ponder, land, land, and some other card that I don't remember. I think it was Grindstone. He plays land, Ponder, pass. I play land, Top, go. He Trinket Mages up a Needle for my Top, but it's fine since I'm sitting on double Grip. He eventually gets another Mage for Explosives. Not overly concerned, he builds up a board of Counterbalance, Explosives at 1, Grindstone, Painter, Trinket Mage x2, and some land. My board is land. End of the turn he plays Painter (which taps him out), I Grip the Counterbalance, then Swords the Painter. Then, on my turn, I Grip the Needle and play a Counterbalance. Then, he loses some time after that.

Round 4: Geoff Smelski (Konsultant) playing UWG Landstill

I won't lie. I wasn't expecting to play Landstill. In all honesty, my testing has shown that I'm favored against it. It should be noted though, that the testing I have done wasn't against this version of Landstill. He has certain cards that are very good against me, and I was expecting a slightly different version. I'm almost certain that I could have sideboarded cards for this matchup, but chose not to because I didn't expect there to be too much of it.

Game 1: This was fucking horrendous. He drops a turn 2 Standstill, and I resolve to break it after I get rid of the lands in my hand. Figuring that I needed mana to fight him fair, I'd set up my manabase and then break it with an end of turn Brainstorm. Sure, he'd have card Quality on me, but I have the more objectively powerful plays in my deck.

Cutting to the chase, I proceed to draw 8 lands while he draws triple Factory. In fact, I drew so many lands, that he thought he was playing the mirror. I matched him land drop for land drop. It was ridiculous.

I lose this game because I didn't draw enough gas. It took me too long to break the Standstill, and I took too much damage. Then, he surprised me with Krosan Grip. In the maindeck. The shit? Well, fuck.

Game 2: This one was awkward as fuck. He rolls me. There's no point in me saying otherwise. God, what a beating.

Round 5: Nicholas Patnode playing Four Color Threshold with Bitterblossom.

Game 1: He goes land Ponder, go. I go land, go. He goes land, Bitterblossom, go. I go land, Counterbalance, to which he responds with a Daze, go. He replays his land, and plays another Bitterblossom, and passes the turn. On my turn, I play Pernicious Deed. The game goes straight downhill for him from there.

Game 2: This wasn't much of a game. I beat the piss out of him with all the cards in my deck that are insane against Threshold.

Round 6: Don (AngryTroll) playing Survival

Game 1: I rawdog my Crypt in my opening hand, and Don is worried about it the entire game. But, it's mostly irrelevant since my Counterbalance locks him out anyway.

Game 2: I keep a questionable opener of seven with the following: Plains, Fetch, Sea, Sea, Trop, Counterbalance, Swords. I figure that his best route to beat me involves Moon Effects. Uncertain of whether or not he boarded Blood Moon (he had a bunch of different basics in game one including Swamp, Plains, and possibly Mountain) this hand has Counterbalance AND Swords while also having a Plains and the Fetch for the Island. So, he Thoughtseizes me on turn 1. Hm, beating. Taking Counterbalance, he drops Survival while I draw a great deal of land. Turn three, he drops a Magus of the Moon. Seeing that it's in actuality more damaging to him (he was sitting on Mountain, Bayou, Swamp) I decide to let it stick around so I can develop my manabase. Then, if he did something that I didn't like (or I drew something that I liked), I'd Swords the Magus and get back to playing Magic. I draw a Shackles which I tap three Mountains for, while he gets a basic Forest and plays a Tarmogoyf.

Suffice to say that this game fast forwards really easily. I stabilize through Shackles, then draw Crypt. The turn before I play Counterbalance, he Grips Crypt and I play Counterbalance. Then, he doesn't play spells.

Round 7: Bryant Cook playing The EPIC Storm (see, I spelled it out for you).

We I.D.

Top 8

Rodney (Roodmistah) playing U/R Dreadstill

Game 1: I can't really get this one. I mulligan into a land light hand, and he Stifles/Wastes me out of the game. Plus Counterbalance.

Game 2: This game goes really poorly for Rodney. I get Counterbalance early, but don't have Top. I use Intuition to find three Tops, and he Forces it. So, stuck with using a blind Counterbalance until I can find Intuition, Witness, or Ruins, I'm still doing ok. Then, he deals with my Counterbalance. However, I find an Intuition and ruin his day. The turn I play Witness (getting back Counterbalance) he goes all in on double Dreadnought. I have Deed.

Game 3: The game is in my favor up until this crucial point. I have six lands, Counterbalance, Top, and a Tarmogoyf (his board is Trinket Mage, Factory, other lands, Explosives, Crypt). He's just tapped low in order to play an Explosives at 2 (with enough extra cost to get through my Counterbalance). I have Intuitions in my hand. So, I Intuition during my main phase. He Dazes in response. So, I pay, which limits my options incredibly. I find Grip, Grip, Explosives. He gives me Grip, and I spin Top to try to get lucky. I don't, and he blows away my board. Then, he Crypts me. I have no idea why he did that, but that frees up the other two Intuitions in my hand. I then win, because all my spells are retarded.

Rodney, I honestly don't believe there was anything you could have done differently. I'm pretty sure that the only way you could have won was to play a spell that was uncounterable that also had Split Second, that drew you 5 cards and destroyed every card on my side of the table. It was that bad.

Top 4
Geoff Smelski (Konsultant) playing UWG Landstill

DAMN. I have a pretty awful track record with revenge matches. They're so bad that I'd really rather just not have them anymore. But seriously, now I KNOW he's playing maindeck Grip, so I can play around that. Decree too.

Game 1: I Force through a turn 2 Counterbalance. I'm in pretty strict control of this game, but he's beating in with Factories that I don't care about while I'm trying to lock him out. He steals it with a surprise second Decree.

Game 2: I'm retarded. I make a play mistake that costs me the match. I get another turn 2 Counterbalance. I blind counter his Explosives that he plays to deal with it. On his next turn, he plays another one. I flip Force, and feeling confident, I Counterspell his Explosives. Then, he Counterspells it. Feeling on top of the world, I know that I'm going to play Explosives to kill his before he can activate it, and gain complete dominance over this game. Of course, I pass the turn. FUCK. FUCK. SHIT. FUCK SHIT DAMN. So, I rightfully lose that game. Beatings of epic proportions.


So, as it turned out, I boarded in 5 cards all day. The Krosan Grips were worth their weight in something that's more valuable than gold. I don't know what, but they were insane all day. Also, I boarded in one Blue Elemental Blast against Survival and against 9 Million Color Zoo. That's it. Fucking shit. Where are the Goblins? Where's the Ichorid? Fuck. I may as well have had 10 Dwarven Ponies in my sideboard for all the good those cards did me.

Still though, had a great time. Geoff was a pretty cool guy, even though I fucking lost to him twice. Also, my opponents were generally pretty cool. Some were pissed at the losing, but hey, it happens. Seriously though, high fives kick ass.

EDIT:
@Landstill_101: Suck it. That is all. :)

Hopefully you'll realize sooner or later that I'm right about certain things.

[Ebinsugewa]

What a beating.

Love,
Brendan























(don't forget the 6, Dave)

[AngryTroll]

Our match was awesome. I made some bad misplays, and you played very well. I thought it was really cool that you were willing to talk about the game between game one and two. I think most people would have ignored me, or politely said nothing when I asked where I lost control, but you pointed out my mistakes and what I could have done better. Even though I didn't do a great job playing, that was my most interesting match of the day.


Major props on the Top 8. I have a message to Pinder from you, to be delivered in person when I get back. Also, I am building your totally awesome deck.

[Deep6er]

1) Dude, this game is a blast. Why not help other people? That's primarily what I view the Source as. A tool to help me help other people.

2) Thanks. It should be good.

3) Best of luck with it. It's a good deck, but watch your play. It's the Fear isn't too forgiving of play mistakes.


Also, I should probably clarify why I named the tournament report as such.

I Intuition'd up Shackles once that day. However, there were multiple games where I had it. Same thing with Witness. Man, those cards <3 the David Gearhart. It's for true.

[Rood]

What a beating.

Love,
Brendan

I Lol'd.

Seriously man GGs and yeah it was a brutal matchup for me probally worst I could have asked for in top 8 but hey, shit happens. Grats on your finish as well, you played flawlessly against me in T8 and deserved the win.

[Whit3 Ghost]

Congrats on the finish.

You've been powering through tournaments when you're not hyped up on painkillers.

[Mental]

Landstill > ITF

lol, jk

[frogboy]

your deck is awesome. play more lands.

[Bryant Cook]

Congrats your top 8. Also our high five was awesome.

[Deep6er]

@White Ghost: Man, I remember being utterly fascinated by the lights in the ceiling, but now that I think about it, I have no idea why. Stupid drugs. Less drugs, more sleep. Sleep is fucking kick-ass.

@Frogboy: Actually, I was extremely happy with 22 lands. Everything went perfectly, even in the face of multiple Stifles/Wastelands. Seriously, get out of your preconceived notions of 24+ lands in control. It's the Fear works, and it works well.

@Bryant: Thanks, you too. Also, yes, our high five was, in fact, awesome.

[Pinder]

Also our high five was awesome.

Also, yes, our high five was, in fact, awesome.

Like this one?

I have a message to Pinder from you, to be delivered in person when I get back.

Can't wait to hear it.

Also, grats on the Top 8, Dave.

[Deep6er]

That's so unbelievably awesome. I think I'm going to have to wash my pants.

[goobafish]

Grats on the top 8. Nice talking theory with you.

[J.V.]

Congrats Gearheart, it was great meeting you.
That maindeck Crypt is hot.
-----------------
And Brendan I seriously fell out of my chair, what a beating!