IsThisACatInAHat?
11-08-2010, 07:41 AM
Do you know what it's like to fill out a deck registration sheet with "4 Sneak Attack" on it? I imagine it's exactly like Urza block Extended when the Megrim Jar players had to write "4 Megrim" on theirs. You know the deck is completely broken, you know the metagame is woefully unprepared, but the only thing you can think is, "my god this card fucking sucks... am I seriously going to hand this to a judge?"
Rewind to last weekend, when I was dead set on playing Team America or Canadian Threshold in Boston. Both seemed well-positioned to roll vengevival and still maintain positive matchups against actual good decks. The only problem was I just kept losing. I couldn't even put up a fight during playtest sessions. To be fair, I asked my friend to play decks that cause TA problems, namely Zoo, Goblins and Merfolk. I'm perfectly willing admit to pilot error, but the pilot is the one thing I couldn't change. By Wednesday, I was so tired and frustrated with the format that I thought about just running 4c CBtop again, despite its weakness in the current metagame, since the cards for my next project, SneakShow, probably wouldn't arrive in time. As it happened, I lucksacked into a package from Singapore on Friday with enough cards to put together SneakShow if I could trade for Sneak Attacks. I'd never played the deck before in my life; in fact, the only time I'd even seen it was when I passed by Korey Age at the GP top 8 on my way to watch Saito. But it looked fun.
We got to Boston on Saturday around 3pm, just in time to catch the Legacy side event at 4. I went to the SCG booth, traded for what I needed and sleeved up this (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?18871-Sneak-Attack-with-Show-and-Tell&p=496318&viewfull=1#post496318) list. R1 G1 would be my first time ever playing the deck. I got rolled 2-0 by BUG-top-still... an inauspicious start. But then, I just... stopped losing. My next 3 matches were against Canadian, TES and BUG-top-still (same 75 as r1, different pilot). I went 2-1, 2-0, 2-0 for a 3-1 finish and 6 packs of M11 to restore my confidence. After the event my friends and I went back to our room and tested into the wee hours of the morning, during which I started to get a legitimate feel for the deck, its amazing strengths and gaping weaknesses.
On Sunday I decided that my grievances with the deck were largely (if not entirely) addressed by Yuuki Ookubo who piloted this (http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/examining-the-top-8-decks-at-tokyo%E2%80%99s-eternal-festival/) build to a top 4 finish at Tokyo's Eternal Festival, among which were "not enough vowels in my name." Despite (again) having never played the list and with only 3-4 hours of SneakShow experience under my belt, I decided to run it. Oh well, this should be fun...
Round 1 vs. BGW Rock
I win the roll and keep a t3 SnT-> Emrakul with FoW but no pitch card. He plays a couple of lands, a vial and a Confidant over the next 3 turns while I play land, go. By turn 5, he's got some serious action on the board and I still haven't found a pitch card, so I just go for it. Emrakul faces down Confidant, 2x Goyf, 2x Serra Avenger. He swings into Emrakul putting me at 11, then scoops.
Game two, I play t1 Island, t2 Ancient Tomb-> SnT-> Emrakul. His lands cannot stop the flying spaghetti monster (http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster.jpg).
1-0 matches, 2-0 games
Round 2 vs. 4c CBtop
I once again win the roll, keeping a hand with t3 SnT-> Emrakul with no protection. I Brainstorm EOT at the end of his second turn to find something, but don't and just go for it. SnT resolves, he draws for turn and scoops.
Game two I kept 2 Sneak, Emrakul, Tarn, Pyroblast, Force and Brainstorm on the draw and topdecked lands like a champ after Brainstorm yielded a second fetch and a pair of Progenitals. After developing his board and losing CB to Pyroblast, he's down to 3 cards in hand and I've ramped to 3 mana+ petal, so I decide to resolve Sneak. I probably should anyway, since a 4/5 goyf is beating my face in. I FoW his SDT to prevent him finding an answer and go for it. He shows me the force, drops Trinket Mage tutoring Top and I die. Shoulda held that Force...
Game three I have the nuts: 2 SnT, Pyroblast, Petal, Progenitus, City of Traitors, Misty. I decide to wait for turn 2 because he doesn't play Daze and I'll have protection. Turns out his only counter was Pierce, so either way I had it. Turn 2 SnT into Progenitals gets the scoop.
2-0 matches, 4-1 games
Round 3 vs. Glimpse Elves
I lose the roll and my opponent plays Forest, Fyndhorn Elves. I am glad. I Force Glimpse turn 3, which lets him to dump the rest of his hand and Pact for Regal Force, drawing 7. I Enlightened Tutor for Sphinx and SnT it, while he uses his turn to grow his army from 8 creatures to... much more. I get one attack in and watch as he proceeds to ramp to some ungodly amount of mana, bounce Warcaller, kick it for something high and kill me.
Game two I draw the nuts again. Emrakul, Progenitus, Sneak, Petal, Tomb and lands. He mulls to 5 into Leyline of Creatures Can't Be Countered but no lands, I ramp to 6 on turn 4 and cast Sneak, Prog, Emrak, win.
Game three I draw an OK hand that needs some work, but has t2 Meddling Mage naming Nettle Sentinel. I topdeck another one, naming Glimpse (which he apparently sided out) while I ramp up to Sneak Attack. He topdecks two consecutive Elvish Archdruids and decides to go aggro, dropping me to 9. Emrakul hits play and wipes most of his board except for 9 power worth of elves. The Meddling Mages chump, I upkeep Intuition for triple Emrakul, activate Sneak and win.
3-0 matches, 6-2 games
Round 4 vs. this deck (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=35553) (featured match!!)
I win the roll and play Island, go. He plays shockland, Hierarch, then I t2 Tomb, SnT-> Emrakul.
Game two, my opponent plays t1 Bayou, Birds to my t1 Island, go. He follows up with Plague Stinger and I t2 Tomb-> Emrakul. He (at 15 life exactly) swings, no blocks, pump with Vines of Vastwood. I'm at 6 poison counters, draw for turn and attack.
4-0 matches, 8-2 games
Round 5 vs. BGW Junk (Brad Nelson's t8 list)
I win the roll and play an Island, good enough to hide some cards from a t1 Thoughtseize with Brainstorm. He proceeds to Thoughtseize and Verdict me several times, draining our hands and leaving me with just Emrakul and something else. Topdecked Ponder shows nothing, shuffle, draw Brainstorm into Sneak Attack-> Emrakul next turn. He draws and scoops.
I keep a t3 SnT with t4 Sneak Attack backup, plus Emrakul and Progenitus to play. He plays land, go for 3 turns just as I do. I now know the exact contents of his hand. I need to ramp to 6 mana (3 red) to play and activate Sneak Attack twice or find another SnT to survive the Edict and dodge the (at least) double Vindicate. He tries to apply pressure with a goyf, I snap-play Perish and we continue to play draw, go for a couple turns until I E. Tutor for my second Petal to get 6. Edict snags Progenitus, Emrakul lands and he scoops.
5-0 matches, 10-2 games
Round 6 vs. BGW Junk (similar to Nelson's)
I win the roll and play Island, go. He plays a land and passes back, I t2 Tomb, SnT-> Emrakul. He drops a KotR (oh fuck...), draws and scoops. Whew. Apparently it's not in his 75.
We get deckchecked before game two and apparently there's a problem with my sheet. My sideboard reads 2 Pyroblast, 1 Pyroblast, etc. where it should read 2 Pyroblast, 1 Pyroclasm, etc. I'm forced to switch out the Pyroclasm for another Pyroblast, which fucking sucks. I also receive a game loss, which is moronic for an obvious clerical error, despite the fact I recited my exact sideboard correctly. Whatever.
For game 3 I again play first, we both drop lands and say go for 3 turns until SnT-> Progenitus. He draws and scoops.
6-0 matches, 12-3(2) game
At this point some people are telling me I can draw in, others are saying I can't, I'm nervous because I'm not supposed to make my first ever t8 with a deck I've never played, etc.
Round 7 vs. BGW Ooze Survival (Gerry Thompson)
He asks if I want to draw, I ask the judge if we can definitely draw in. Apparently he can't answer that, but Gerry explains how it works. I'm really not sure and reeeally don't want to miss top 8 again.
We play a game in which Gerry rolls me while I sit there a tilted, nervous wreck. By tilted, I mean he casts t2 Thoughtseize with Bayou and Savannah/ Hierarch open. My board is Tomb, Petal and my hand is Petal, Force, Daze, Emrakul, City, Tarn. I could've sworn I'd kept t1 SnT, but was literally so nervous I didn't realize it had no SnT until I drew for my turn. I crack Petal and activate Tomb to hardcast Daze, then realize the obvious. He has two mana open, dumbass. So I Force it pitching Daze. He's... confused, to say the least. Thoughtseize? No, sorry, let me bolt and hymn myself instead. He Survivals up the Ooze combo over the next two turns and I scoop. Then, Gerry T did something really classy. He assured me I would make the cut, walked me through the math and offered me the draw again. I took it and thanked him. Turns out he was right; after round 7, he was seated #1, I was #2. I could not mathematically draw out of top 8. I really need to figure out how that shit works, but thankfully he was understanding of my position.
Round 8 ID
I finish the swiss at 6-0-2 in 5th place behind Gerry in 4th and the 3 guys on the bubble who went X-1.
Quarterfinals vs. BGW Ooze Survival (Gerry Thompson)
Fuck. Alright, just shuffle up, take a deep breath and play. I mull to 6 and keep a t2 SnT-> Progenitus. He goes first and plays a Hierarch, then on turn 2 he plays a Fauna Shaman and Birds of Paradise. I SnT the Progenitus, he drops a Forest. Hell yeah, I got this. The next 2 turns were a blur... on his turn, he thinks for about a minute, then goes through an elaborate process of tutoring up Quirion Rangers, untapping his mana guys to tutor up some more and play another one. His board at EOT is 2x Fauna Shaman, Hierarch, Birds, 2x Ranger. I swing for 10 and pass. He does the untap-> retap-> Fauna Shaman up 4 Vengevines and attacks for 20, outracing my turn 2 Progenitus. Whoa...
I keep a strong hand that only needs a creature to win. Gerry is stuck on a single Bayou, but manages to cast 3x Thoughtseize, Hierarch, Cabal Therapy, flashback (sac Hierach) and another Hierarch. My hand is torn apart, but I topdeck a Perish for his second Hierach to keep him on 1 mana. Eventually I ramp up to 8 and hardcast Sphinx, which relevantly has pro-G and is a black artifact (read as: pro-Nature's Claim, pro-Shriekmaw). I attack him to 5 and he does the elaborate Fauna Shaman-> Ranger-> untap retap thing and swings for 18 with 4 Vengevines and some little guys, netting 8 damage after Sphinx blocks. He EOT Nature's Claims a Tree of Tales to go to 9, I attack him to 3. He does some combat math and scoops.
Game three I'm again a nervous wreck and keep an extremely loose hand of Island, Volcanic, Brainstorm, SnT, Emrakul, Perish, Extirpate. Somehow I think Brainstorm without a fetch will deliver me, but I draw into double Sneak Attack, Progenitus. Awesome. His hand is very slow too but with lots of disruption, so he tears mine apart until I eventually draw another Volcanic. I figure fuck it, might as well go for SnT. He's only got 1 Shriekmaw and not enough mana for it anyway, so I got this. SnT-> Emrakul-> O Ring. Awww. He takes an uneventful turn and I draw Brainstorm. He does more Fauna Shaman shenanigans, drops Necrotic Ooze and is now 2 turns from winning. I EOT Brainstorm into Pithing Needle, Echoing Truth, something. EOT Truth on O Ring, draw and swing. Stop.
After annihilator, his board is Bayou, Necrotic Ooze, Quirion Ranger with O Ring in hand. Mine is 2x Volcanic, Island, Emrakul with Island, Progenitus, Needle in hand. What happened next cost me $650, an invite to Virginia and a top 4 finish. I said go.
Float G with Bayou, activate Ooze for W, return Bayou with Ranger untapping Ooze. Play Bayou, tap for G, cast O Ring targeting Emrakul. Game, set, match. The Pithing Needle in my hand is Japanese, but an Oracle ruling on the text says "Target Quirion Ranger cannot bounce Bayou to recast O Ring next turn."
By all means, I did not deserve to win that match. Gerry is an insanely good player, a fact which I never fully appreciated watching him and other pros from the sidelines. Actually playing against a level 6? 7? pro is such a different experience from playing against literally anyone else, I just felt horribly outclassed. Even with a deck that should probably be a 60/40 favorite or better with pilots of equal skill. The guy was just a smooth operator all match, playing all the right spells in exactly the right order, even if it wasn't fully apparent until turns later when he always had exactly enough mana to do everything at once, including making a Fauna Shaman look like Survival of the Fittest with help from some Rangers. Not dick riding, just observing. That shit was unreal. Still, I had it... the game, the match, the money, the invite, the finish and I let it slip away. Oooh well. Gerry was a really cool guy and was happy to sign my Lotus Petals for me to commemorate my epic round 7 misplay.
The 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds all won their quarterfinal matches, landing me a 5th place finish. Not bad. Not too bad at all. So much for brevity. I'll be glad to answer questions about the deck/ games/ other stuff, or just to hear comments about whatever. Hopefully I'll have another successful report for you next week after Vestal's big power tourney!
Rewind to last weekend, when I was dead set on playing Team America or Canadian Threshold in Boston. Both seemed well-positioned to roll vengevival and still maintain positive matchups against actual good decks. The only problem was I just kept losing. I couldn't even put up a fight during playtest sessions. To be fair, I asked my friend to play decks that cause TA problems, namely Zoo, Goblins and Merfolk. I'm perfectly willing admit to pilot error, but the pilot is the one thing I couldn't change. By Wednesday, I was so tired and frustrated with the format that I thought about just running 4c CBtop again, despite its weakness in the current metagame, since the cards for my next project, SneakShow, probably wouldn't arrive in time. As it happened, I lucksacked into a package from Singapore on Friday with enough cards to put together SneakShow if I could trade for Sneak Attacks. I'd never played the deck before in my life; in fact, the only time I'd even seen it was when I passed by Korey Age at the GP top 8 on my way to watch Saito. But it looked fun.
We got to Boston on Saturday around 3pm, just in time to catch the Legacy side event at 4. I went to the SCG booth, traded for what I needed and sleeved up this (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?18871-Sneak-Attack-with-Show-and-Tell&p=496318&viewfull=1#post496318) list. R1 G1 would be my first time ever playing the deck. I got rolled 2-0 by BUG-top-still... an inauspicious start. But then, I just... stopped losing. My next 3 matches were against Canadian, TES and BUG-top-still (same 75 as r1, different pilot). I went 2-1, 2-0, 2-0 for a 3-1 finish and 6 packs of M11 to restore my confidence. After the event my friends and I went back to our room and tested into the wee hours of the morning, during which I started to get a legitimate feel for the deck, its amazing strengths and gaping weaknesses.
On Sunday I decided that my grievances with the deck were largely (if not entirely) addressed by Yuuki Ookubo who piloted this (http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/examining-the-top-8-decks-at-tokyo%E2%80%99s-eternal-festival/) build to a top 4 finish at Tokyo's Eternal Festival, among which were "not enough vowels in my name." Despite (again) having never played the list and with only 3-4 hours of SneakShow experience under my belt, I decided to run it. Oh well, this should be fun...
Round 1 vs. BGW Rock
I win the roll and keep a t3 SnT-> Emrakul with FoW but no pitch card. He plays a couple of lands, a vial and a Confidant over the next 3 turns while I play land, go. By turn 5, he's got some serious action on the board and I still haven't found a pitch card, so I just go for it. Emrakul faces down Confidant, 2x Goyf, 2x Serra Avenger. He swings into Emrakul putting me at 11, then scoops.
Game two, I play t1 Island, t2 Ancient Tomb-> SnT-> Emrakul. His lands cannot stop the flying spaghetti monster (http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster.jpg).
1-0 matches, 2-0 games
Round 2 vs. 4c CBtop
I once again win the roll, keeping a hand with t3 SnT-> Emrakul with no protection. I Brainstorm EOT at the end of his second turn to find something, but don't and just go for it. SnT resolves, he draws for turn and scoops.
Game two I kept 2 Sneak, Emrakul, Tarn, Pyroblast, Force and Brainstorm on the draw and topdecked lands like a champ after Brainstorm yielded a second fetch and a pair of Progenitals. After developing his board and losing CB to Pyroblast, he's down to 3 cards in hand and I've ramped to 3 mana+ petal, so I decide to resolve Sneak. I probably should anyway, since a 4/5 goyf is beating my face in. I FoW his SDT to prevent him finding an answer and go for it. He shows me the force, drops Trinket Mage tutoring Top and I die. Shoulda held that Force...
Game three I have the nuts: 2 SnT, Pyroblast, Petal, Progenitus, City of Traitors, Misty. I decide to wait for turn 2 because he doesn't play Daze and I'll have protection. Turns out his only counter was Pierce, so either way I had it. Turn 2 SnT into Progenitals gets the scoop.
2-0 matches, 4-1 games
Round 3 vs. Glimpse Elves
I lose the roll and my opponent plays Forest, Fyndhorn Elves. I am glad. I Force Glimpse turn 3, which lets him to dump the rest of his hand and Pact for Regal Force, drawing 7. I Enlightened Tutor for Sphinx and SnT it, while he uses his turn to grow his army from 8 creatures to... much more. I get one attack in and watch as he proceeds to ramp to some ungodly amount of mana, bounce Warcaller, kick it for something high and kill me.
Game two I draw the nuts again. Emrakul, Progenitus, Sneak, Petal, Tomb and lands. He mulls to 5 into Leyline of Creatures Can't Be Countered but no lands, I ramp to 6 on turn 4 and cast Sneak, Prog, Emrak, win.
Game three I draw an OK hand that needs some work, but has t2 Meddling Mage naming Nettle Sentinel. I topdeck another one, naming Glimpse (which he apparently sided out) while I ramp up to Sneak Attack. He topdecks two consecutive Elvish Archdruids and decides to go aggro, dropping me to 9. Emrakul hits play and wipes most of his board except for 9 power worth of elves. The Meddling Mages chump, I upkeep Intuition for triple Emrakul, activate Sneak and win.
3-0 matches, 6-2 games
Round 4 vs. this deck (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=35553) (featured match!!)
I win the roll and play Island, go. He plays shockland, Hierarch, then I t2 Tomb, SnT-> Emrakul.
Game two, my opponent plays t1 Bayou, Birds to my t1 Island, go. He follows up with Plague Stinger and I t2 Tomb-> Emrakul. He (at 15 life exactly) swings, no blocks, pump with Vines of Vastwood. I'm at 6 poison counters, draw for turn and attack.
4-0 matches, 8-2 games
Round 5 vs. BGW Junk (Brad Nelson's t8 list)
I win the roll and play an Island, good enough to hide some cards from a t1 Thoughtseize with Brainstorm. He proceeds to Thoughtseize and Verdict me several times, draining our hands and leaving me with just Emrakul and something else. Topdecked Ponder shows nothing, shuffle, draw Brainstorm into Sneak Attack-> Emrakul next turn. He draws and scoops.
I keep a t3 SnT with t4 Sneak Attack backup, plus Emrakul and Progenitus to play. He plays land, go for 3 turns just as I do. I now know the exact contents of his hand. I need to ramp to 6 mana (3 red) to play and activate Sneak Attack twice or find another SnT to survive the Edict and dodge the (at least) double Vindicate. He tries to apply pressure with a goyf, I snap-play Perish and we continue to play draw, go for a couple turns until I E. Tutor for my second Petal to get 6. Edict snags Progenitus, Emrakul lands and he scoops.
5-0 matches, 10-2 games
Round 6 vs. BGW Junk (similar to Nelson's)
I win the roll and play Island, go. He plays a land and passes back, I t2 Tomb, SnT-> Emrakul. He drops a KotR (oh fuck...), draws and scoops. Whew. Apparently it's not in his 75.
We get deckchecked before game two and apparently there's a problem with my sheet. My sideboard reads 2 Pyroblast, 1 Pyroblast, etc. where it should read 2 Pyroblast, 1 Pyroclasm, etc. I'm forced to switch out the Pyroclasm for another Pyroblast, which fucking sucks. I also receive a game loss, which is moronic for an obvious clerical error, despite the fact I recited my exact sideboard correctly. Whatever.
For game 3 I again play first, we both drop lands and say go for 3 turns until SnT-> Progenitus. He draws and scoops.
6-0 matches, 12-3(2) game
At this point some people are telling me I can draw in, others are saying I can't, I'm nervous because I'm not supposed to make my first ever t8 with a deck I've never played, etc.
Round 7 vs. BGW Ooze Survival (Gerry Thompson)
He asks if I want to draw, I ask the judge if we can definitely draw in. Apparently he can't answer that, but Gerry explains how it works. I'm really not sure and reeeally don't want to miss top 8 again.
We play a game in which Gerry rolls me while I sit there a tilted, nervous wreck. By tilted, I mean he casts t2 Thoughtseize with Bayou and Savannah/ Hierarch open. My board is Tomb, Petal and my hand is Petal, Force, Daze, Emrakul, City, Tarn. I could've sworn I'd kept t1 SnT, but was literally so nervous I didn't realize it had no SnT until I drew for my turn. I crack Petal and activate Tomb to hardcast Daze, then realize the obvious. He has two mana open, dumbass. So I Force it pitching Daze. He's... confused, to say the least. Thoughtseize? No, sorry, let me bolt and hymn myself instead. He Survivals up the Ooze combo over the next two turns and I scoop. Then, Gerry T did something really classy. He assured me I would make the cut, walked me through the math and offered me the draw again. I took it and thanked him. Turns out he was right; after round 7, he was seated #1, I was #2. I could not mathematically draw out of top 8. I really need to figure out how that shit works, but thankfully he was understanding of my position.
Round 8 ID
I finish the swiss at 6-0-2 in 5th place behind Gerry in 4th and the 3 guys on the bubble who went X-1.
Quarterfinals vs. BGW Ooze Survival (Gerry Thompson)
Fuck. Alright, just shuffle up, take a deep breath and play. I mull to 6 and keep a t2 SnT-> Progenitus. He goes first and plays a Hierarch, then on turn 2 he plays a Fauna Shaman and Birds of Paradise. I SnT the Progenitus, he drops a Forest. Hell yeah, I got this. The next 2 turns were a blur... on his turn, he thinks for about a minute, then goes through an elaborate process of tutoring up Quirion Rangers, untapping his mana guys to tutor up some more and play another one. His board at EOT is 2x Fauna Shaman, Hierarch, Birds, 2x Ranger. I swing for 10 and pass. He does the untap-> retap-> Fauna Shaman up 4 Vengevines and attacks for 20, outracing my turn 2 Progenitus. Whoa...
I keep a strong hand that only needs a creature to win. Gerry is stuck on a single Bayou, but manages to cast 3x Thoughtseize, Hierarch, Cabal Therapy, flashback (sac Hierach) and another Hierarch. My hand is torn apart, but I topdeck a Perish for his second Hierach to keep him on 1 mana. Eventually I ramp up to 8 and hardcast Sphinx, which relevantly has pro-G and is a black artifact (read as: pro-Nature's Claim, pro-Shriekmaw). I attack him to 5 and he does the elaborate Fauna Shaman-> Ranger-> untap retap thing and swings for 18 with 4 Vengevines and some little guys, netting 8 damage after Sphinx blocks. He EOT Nature's Claims a Tree of Tales to go to 9, I attack him to 3. He does some combat math and scoops.
Game three I'm again a nervous wreck and keep an extremely loose hand of Island, Volcanic, Brainstorm, SnT, Emrakul, Perish, Extirpate. Somehow I think Brainstorm without a fetch will deliver me, but I draw into double Sneak Attack, Progenitus. Awesome. His hand is very slow too but with lots of disruption, so he tears mine apart until I eventually draw another Volcanic. I figure fuck it, might as well go for SnT. He's only got 1 Shriekmaw and not enough mana for it anyway, so I got this. SnT-> Emrakul-> O Ring. Awww. He takes an uneventful turn and I draw Brainstorm. He does more Fauna Shaman shenanigans, drops Necrotic Ooze and is now 2 turns from winning. I EOT Brainstorm into Pithing Needle, Echoing Truth, something. EOT Truth on O Ring, draw and swing. Stop.
After annihilator, his board is Bayou, Necrotic Ooze, Quirion Ranger with O Ring in hand. Mine is 2x Volcanic, Island, Emrakul with Island, Progenitus, Needle in hand. What happened next cost me $650, an invite to Virginia and a top 4 finish. I said go.
Float G with Bayou, activate Ooze for W, return Bayou with Ranger untapping Ooze. Play Bayou, tap for G, cast O Ring targeting Emrakul. Game, set, match. The Pithing Needle in my hand is Japanese, but an Oracle ruling on the text says "Target Quirion Ranger cannot bounce Bayou to recast O Ring next turn."
By all means, I did not deserve to win that match. Gerry is an insanely good player, a fact which I never fully appreciated watching him and other pros from the sidelines. Actually playing against a level 6? 7? pro is such a different experience from playing against literally anyone else, I just felt horribly outclassed. Even with a deck that should probably be a 60/40 favorite or better with pilots of equal skill. The guy was just a smooth operator all match, playing all the right spells in exactly the right order, even if it wasn't fully apparent until turns later when he always had exactly enough mana to do everything at once, including making a Fauna Shaman look like Survival of the Fittest with help from some Rangers. Not dick riding, just observing. That shit was unreal. Still, I had it... the game, the match, the money, the invite, the finish and I let it slip away. Oooh well. Gerry was a really cool guy and was happy to sign my Lotus Petals for me to commemorate my epic round 7 misplay.
The 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds all won their quarterfinal matches, landing me a 5th place finish. Not bad. Not too bad at all. So much for brevity. I'll be glad to answer questions about the deck/ games/ other stuff, or just to hear comments about whatever. Hopefully I'll have another successful report for you next week after Vestal's big power tourney!