AngryTroll
01-02-2011, 06:32 PM
Ancient Wonders, in Tualatin, Oregon, held a Legacy tournament for an Ancestral Recall on New Year's Day. Great! My first pick for an event like this is McCall Dredge, but I left it in Texas. What I did have was McCall Ad Nauseum Tendrils and a pile of Dreadstill cards. TES seemed like a great choice for the event, but I was still losing to the goldfish on occasion and decided that there was no way I could pilot it through an event with Islands (Tropical, Volcanic, or just plain pretty (http://sales.starcitygames.com/carddisplay.php?product=29229)). Here's the Dreadstill list I managed to assemble for the event:
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
1 Trickbind
3 Spell Pierce
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Counterbalance
3 Dark Confidant
3 Trinket Mage
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
3 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
3 Island
//Sideboard
1 Plains
3 Peacekeeper
3 Path to Exile
3 Spell Snare
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Counterbalance
I'd like another Tundra and Bob main, but alas, they're in Texas. I'd like to fit a Relic main, but there's no room. I wasn't sure about leaving the three Mishra's Factories in the main; I could replace them with Swamp #1, Plains #1, and Island #4 for a better manabase, but I decided to leave them. I was tempted to cut a Dreadnought, but turn two Dreadnought Stifle wins too many games to not max out on them. I was expecting lots of Merfolk and Zoo, so the sideboard almost doubles the number of removal spells I can run. Against Merfolk and Zoo my plan was to board out the Pierces, Counterbalances, and one Trinket Mage for the Paths, Peacekeepers and the Plains. I saw a guy buying parts for Dragon Stompy last time I was at Ancient Wonders. I hoped to dodge him round one and then not worry about him.
We had 15 people, meaning that Ancient Wonders just about broke even on the Recall, so the rest of the prizes were just alright. They were pretty good, considering they were a loss to the shop; props to Ancient Wonders! Breakdown:
2 Goblins
1 Dark Fish
1 Dark Depths
2 Dreadstill
1 Bryant Cook TES
1 Enchantress
1 37 Lands
1 Intuition/Buried Alive Vengevine UGB List
1 Martyr of Sands Proclamation of Rebirth Serra Ascendant Wrbg Life Deck
1 Quest for the Holy Relic Standard Deck
3 additional (Didn't see these play)
Overall, not a bad metagame, although small. We played four rounds and cut to top four.
----Round 1---- Ryan, with Dark Merfolk (12 Lords, Smothers main, Extirpates and Perishes sideboard)
I recognized this player from the scouting, so I knew he was playing Dark Merfolk. I won the die roll, kept a hand with an Island and a Spell Pierce and some gas; he mulled to six and led with Mutavault, Vial. I Pierced his Vial and Wastelanded the Underground Sea he drew on his next turn, then easily won. He stuck a Vial in game two, Forced my Dreadnought, and Extirpated it. (Side Note: I love it when people cast Extirpate against me.) Unfortunately for my opponent, he didn't have any gas to back up his Vial, Force, and Extirpate. I Stifled and Wasted some of his lands, and killed him with Dark Confidants and Mishra's Factories before he could find enough Merfolk to put up a defense.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 1/1
1-0 matches, 2-0 games
----Round 2---- Zach with Dark Depths
I saw this guy finish his last match against Dreadstill. He was playing Dark Depths with Dark Confidant, Tarmogoyf, Smallpox, Living Wish, and Hexmage and Legendary Lands. In the first game, I kept a hand with Mishra's Factory, Wasteland, and Top. Although I didn't find an Island quickly, my top card was a second Wasteland. His 1/2 Goyf took very small chunks out of my life total until I found Islands and a Counterbalance. I set the Counterbalance to 2 and countered everything he played for the rest of the game. I found a Swords for his Goyf before it could kill me, and won from there.
In game two, he played a Dark Depths on turn one, but I was holding a Wasteland, Path to Exile, and Spell Snare (or Daze, I forget which one). I played a Fetchland and passed the turn; if he dropped Urborg and Hexmage, he'd be tapped out for my Path and counter, if he didn't drop Urborg, I'd drop the Wasteland the next turn. He dropped Urborg and Vampire Hexmage, so I Snared it. I played a Bob, and he played a Wasteland. I made a mistake here; at end of turn, I Topped with my Wasteland, so he Wasted my Wasteland. Unfortunately for my opponent, he was then stuck at two land for a long time. He made a mistake a few turns later by Thoughtseizing me when I had no cards in hand. He eventually drew a fetchland for a Bayou, so I countered his Living Wish and Wasted his Bayou. It turns out that my opponent was holding a second Urborg and a Crucible of Worlds all game, but was never able to cast it. My opponent here was very nice, and I wished him good luck.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 2/2
2-0 matches, 4-0 games
----Round 3---- Nick with TES
I didn't know what Nick was playing, but I won the die roll and played an island, and his first turn Duress pegged him as the TES player. I Brainstormed, untapped, and dropped Dreadnought and Swords to Plowshares. He made 12 Goblin tokens, and I started blocking with a Mishra's Factory. Another farming Dreadnought bought me another turn, and a second Mishra's Factory valiantly joined the team, but I died to the Goblins.
I boarded in Spell Snares for the Swords. I won game two with a Counterbalance and fast Dreadnought. Game three was interesting. He lead with a Thoughtseize, then used a Red Elemental Blast on my Counterbalance. A Brainstorm also ate a Red Blast, but I played a Dark Confidant and he needed a few turns to assemble a winning hand. An Explosives for Zero on my side of the table didn't make his job any easier, either. He went for the combo, but was forced to Burning Wish for Diminishing Returns with nothing floating on his side of the board and a fetchland on my side of the board (with 3 Spell Pierces and 3 Spell Snares main, plus 3 Dazes and 4 Forces). He had nothing and passed the turn, and I drew a card with Bob and my card for the turn, Brainstormed into a perfect anti-combo hand, swung for two and passed the turn. I countered a Duress and Spell Snared a Tutor in response to him cracking two Lions Eye Diamonds. I won easily after that.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 2/3
3-0 matches, 6-1 games.
----Round 4---- Benny with Wbrg Martyr Life
My details for this match are slim; I may mix up these two games. His life totals the first game go 20-8-23-11-0. I Stifled and Wastelanded his lands, hit him with a Dreadnought, he gained 15 with Martyr of Sand, and I hit him with the Dreadnought until he died.
Game two, his life total went 20-19-18-19-31-37-35-31-30-26-20-14-8-6-13-9-5-0. Mine went 20-14-13-8-7. I made a mistake and used Swords on a Serra Ascendant after he gained life from the Martyr of Sand instead of in response to the Martyr activation, but oh well. I had to beat him down with Mishra's Factories and Dark Confidants all game. I hit lots of land with Bob.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 3/4
Matches: 4-0 Games: 8-1
----Top 4---- Brandon with Dragon Stompy
I saw Brandon win Round 4 against Goblins with an Arc-Slogger wearing an Umezawa's Jitte. Yup, he won that game.
Game one: He won the die roll and opened with City of Traitors, Simian Spirit Guide, Blood Moon. I read Blood Moon and was pleased to see that it would be a nonbasic mountain for my Wasteland...dur, so I played an Island and passed the turn. He did something that I countered, then I played a Wasteland, then he did something that didn't matter, so I made a 12/12 and ran him over.
Game two: I mulliganned, but he still made a turn one Chalice and followed it up with a morph. His Ratchet Bombs complicated my Trinket Mage --> Engineered Explosives --> Dreadnought + Stifle plan, and I lost to the Hellbent 5/5 before I could recover.
Game three: I keep Island, Fetchland, Wasteland, Stifle x2, Daze, Dreadnought. I played Fetchland, go. He played Mountain, Chrome Mox, Chalice for 1. I Dazed, replayed my Island on my turn, and passed back. He drew and played a second Chalice for 1. I was sad. I knew I wound win this game after drawing one of the two Engineered Explosives or one of the three Trinket Mages...so I drew an Explosives, dropped it and blew it to leave him with only a Mountain in play. He eventually drew a mountain for his Ratchet Bomb, but I won with the Dreadnought before it got any counters (and I was holding a Stifle for it). Brandon was a nice guy, and I liked his deck. It was a good choice for today.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 4/5
Matches: 5-0
Games: 10-2
----Finals---- Benny with Martyr again
Game one: My life total: 20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11 (Dark Confidant)
His life total: 20-41-59-47-33-21-9-0
That would be two Martyr activations. Frowny face. On the other hand, Dreadnought takes large chunks out of 60 life.
Game two I Pithing Needled Martyr after only one activation. He Plainscycled Eternal Dragon over and over and over again; the last turn of the game, he bought it back and was one land short of hardcasting it. If his Tabernacle had been a plains, he could have done both. I made a mistake this game when I Dazed when he had an untapped land and then had to Force also. His High Market was very frustrating, making my Swords and Paths much less effective than they should have been. He eventually used Hide/Seek to get rid of my Pithing Needle and gained 15 life. He Extirpated my Dreadnoughts early, then nailed my Forces and Dazes as the game went on, so I had to win with Mishra's Factory, Dark Confidant, and Trinket Magi. I blew him out this game when I cast Trinket Mage for Relic of Progenitus and nailed his Martyr; I couldn't get his Eternal Dragon as well, because that would have let him activate the Martyr again. When all of my damage was being dealt in 2 point increments, I figured another 15 life would be really bad for me. Eventually another Trinket Mage found the Pithing Needle again. I knew he had a Wrath and a Crime/Punishment in hand from an early Martyr activation, so this game took forever. The Crime/Punishment nailed a Dreadnought, the Wrath took another Dreadnought and a Dark Confidant (before Dreadnought had been Extirpated, obviously). It was a long game! I finally got it with 3 Mishra's Factories, 2 Trinket Mage, and a Dark Confidant all swinging.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 5/6
Final Record: 6-0 in matches, 12-2 games.
Props: All of my opponents were pretty awesome. Brandon and Benny in the Top 4 were especially nice guys.
George and Ancient Wonders! Awesome tournament, awesome Ancestral Recall.
Dark Confidant. It flipped lands and 1 drops for me all day. I think I ate a Force once.
Wasteland.
Slops: InfoNinjas for not showing up. On the other hand, I got the Recall, so that's pretty awesome.
Thanks again to George at Ancient Wonders!
Changes I'd make to the deck:
The basic Plains was sided in in 5/6 matches; I should probably make room for it in the maindeck.
As soon as I get down to school, I'm going to add a fourth Dark Confidant to the list. Bob was awesome all day.
If I had some Jaces, I might add them to build McCall Dreadstill (http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/legacy/20784_Just_Go_Fing_Kill_Him.html). I could sell the Recall and buy two Jaces and pocket some money, but I could also buy a bunch of fetches and some Duals with the money. We'll see.
Things I would not change about the deck:
The Mishra's Factories were awesome. I wasn't sure about running them without Standstill, but they are definitely worth their 3 slots. Wasteland was worth all 4 as well.
Spell Pierce was great main, and Snare was great in the board. I wouldn't mind some Snares main, but Spell Pierce really pulled its weight.
Relic, Pithing Needle, and Explosives were great in the board, and 1 Explosives main was perfect. 2 Top main also felt perfect--no changes here. I might add 1 Executioner's capsule main, but slots are really tight, and 1BB to destroy a non-black creature is pretty steep.
Things I'm on the fence about with the deck:
I never cast a Peacekeeper, but they're supposed to be really good in some matchups. They can stay for now, I guess.
Counterbalance won the Dark Depths match, and was very solid against Tendrils.
Daze was good all day, but I'd really like another hard counter or two main. Daze and Counterbalance can probably both stay where they are.
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
1 Trickbind
3 Spell Pierce
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Counterbalance
3 Dark Confidant
3 Trinket Mage
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
3 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
3 Island
//Sideboard
1 Plains
3 Peacekeeper
3 Path to Exile
3 Spell Snare
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Counterbalance
I'd like another Tundra and Bob main, but alas, they're in Texas. I'd like to fit a Relic main, but there's no room. I wasn't sure about leaving the three Mishra's Factories in the main; I could replace them with Swamp #1, Plains #1, and Island #4 for a better manabase, but I decided to leave them. I was tempted to cut a Dreadnought, but turn two Dreadnought Stifle wins too many games to not max out on them. I was expecting lots of Merfolk and Zoo, so the sideboard almost doubles the number of removal spells I can run. Against Merfolk and Zoo my plan was to board out the Pierces, Counterbalances, and one Trinket Mage for the Paths, Peacekeepers and the Plains. I saw a guy buying parts for Dragon Stompy last time I was at Ancient Wonders. I hoped to dodge him round one and then not worry about him.
We had 15 people, meaning that Ancient Wonders just about broke even on the Recall, so the rest of the prizes were just alright. They were pretty good, considering they were a loss to the shop; props to Ancient Wonders! Breakdown:
2 Goblins
1 Dark Fish
1 Dark Depths
2 Dreadstill
1 Bryant Cook TES
1 Enchantress
1 37 Lands
1 Intuition/Buried Alive Vengevine UGB List
1 Martyr of Sands Proclamation of Rebirth Serra Ascendant Wrbg Life Deck
1 Quest for the Holy Relic Standard Deck
3 additional (Didn't see these play)
Overall, not a bad metagame, although small. We played four rounds and cut to top four.
----Round 1---- Ryan, with Dark Merfolk (12 Lords, Smothers main, Extirpates and Perishes sideboard)
I recognized this player from the scouting, so I knew he was playing Dark Merfolk. I won the die roll, kept a hand with an Island and a Spell Pierce and some gas; he mulled to six and led with Mutavault, Vial. I Pierced his Vial and Wastelanded the Underground Sea he drew on his next turn, then easily won. He stuck a Vial in game two, Forced my Dreadnought, and Extirpated it. (Side Note: I love it when people cast Extirpate against me.) Unfortunately for my opponent, he didn't have any gas to back up his Vial, Force, and Extirpate. I Stifled and Wasted some of his lands, and killed him with Dark Confidants and Mishra's Factories before he could find enough Merfolk to put up a defense.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 1/1
1-0 matches, 2-0 games
----Round 2---- Zach with Dark Depths
I saw this guy finish his last match against Dreadstill. He was playing Dark Depths with Dark Confidant, Tarmogoyf, Smallpox, Living Wish, and Hexmage and Legendary Lands. In the first game, I kept a hand with Mishra's Factory, Wasteland, and Top. Although I didn't find an Island quickly, my top card was a second Wasteland. His 1/2 Goyf took very small chunks out of my life total until I found Islands and a Counterbalance. I set the Counterbalance to 2 and countered everything he played for the rest of the game. I found a Swords for his Goyf before it could kill me, and won from there.
In game two, he played a Dark Depths on turn one, but I was holding a Wasteland, Path to Exile, and Spell Snare (or Daze, I forget which one). I played a Fetchland and passed the turn; if he dropped Urborg and Hexmage, he'd be tapped out for my Path and counter, if he didn't drop Urborg, I'd drop the Wasteland the next turn. He dropped Urborg and Vampire Hexmage, so I Snared it. I played a Bob, and he played a Wasteland. I made a mistake here; at end of turn, I Topped with my Wasteland, so he Wasted my Wasteland. Unfortunately for my opponent, he was then stuck at two land for a long time. He made a mistake a few turns later by Thoughtseizing me when I had no cards in hand. He eventually drew a fetchland for a Bayou, so I countered his Living Wish and Wasted his Bayou. It turns out that my opponent was holding a second Urborg and a Crucible of Worlds all game, but was never able to cast it. My opponent here was very nice, and I wished him good luck.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 2/2
2-0 matches, 4-0 games
----Round 3---- Nick with TES
I didn't know what Nick was playing, but I won the die roll and played an island, and his first turn Duress pegged him as the TES player. I Brainstormed, untapped, and dropped Dreadnought and Swords to Plowshares. He made 12 Goblin tokens, and I started blocking with a Mishra's Factory. Another farming Dreadnought bought me another turn, and a second Mishra's Factory valiantly joined the team, but I died to the Goblins.
I boarded in Spell Snares for the Swords. I won game two with a Counterbalance and fast Dreadnought. Game three was interesting. He lead with a Thoughtseize, then used a Red Elemental Blast on my Counterbalance. A Brainstorm also ate a Red Blast, but I played a Dark Confidant and he needed a few turns to assemble a winning hand. An Explosives for Zero on my side of the table didn't make his job any easier, either. He went for the combo, but was forced to Burning Wish for Diminishing Returns with nothing floating on his side of the board and a fetchland on my side of the board (with 3 Spell Pierces and 3 Spell Snares main, plus 3 Dazes and 4 Forces). He had nothing and passed the turn, and I drew a card with Bob and my card for the turn, Brainstormed into a perfect anti-combo hand, swung for two and passed the turn. I countered a Duress and Spell Snared a Tutor in response to him cracking two Lions Eye Diamonds. I won easily after that.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 2/3
3-0 matches, 6-1 games.
----Round 4---- Benny with Wbrg Martyr Life
My details for this match are slim; I may mix up these two games. His life totals the first game go 20-8-23-11-0. I Stifled and Wastelanded his lands, hit him with a Dreadnought, he gained 15 with Martyr of Sand, and I hit him with the Dreadnought until he died.
Game two, his life total went 20-19-18-19-31-37-35-31-30-26-20-14-8-6-13-9-5-0. Mine went 20-14-13-8-7. I made a mistake and used Swords on a Serra Ascendant after he gained life from the Martyr of Sand instead of in response to the Martyr activation, but oh well. I had to beat him down with Mishra's Factories and Dark Confidants all game. I hit lots of land with Bob.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 3/4
Matches: 4-0 Games: 8-1
----Top 4---- Brandon with Dragon Stompy
I saw Brandon win Round 4 against Goblins with an Arc-Slogger wearing an Umezawa's Jitte. Yup, he won that game.
Game one: He won the die roll and opened with City of Traitors, Simian Spirit Guide, Blood Moon. I read Blood Moon and was pleased to see that it would be a nonbasic mountain for my Wasteland...dur, so I played an Island and passed the turn. He did something that I countered, then I played a Wasteland, then he did something that didn't matter, so I made a 12/12 and ran him over.
Game two: I mulliganned, but he still made a turn one Chalice and followed it up with a morph. His Ratchet Bombs complicated my Trinket Mage --> Engineered Explosives --> Dreadnought + Stifle plan, and I lost to the Hellbent 5/5 before I could recover.
Game three: I keep Island, Fetchland, Wasteland, Stifle x2, Daze, Dreadnought. I played Fetchland, go. He played Mountain, Chrome Mox, Chalice for 1. I Dazed, replayed my Island on my turn, and passed back. He drew and played a second Chalice for 1. I was sad. I knew I wound win this game after drawing one of the two Engineered Explosives or one of the three Trinket Mages...so I drew an Explosives, dropped it and blew it to leave him with only a Mountain in play. He eventually drew a mountain for his Ratchet Bomb, but I won with the Dreadnought before it got any counters (and I was holding a Stifle for it). Brandon was a nice guy, and I liked his deck. It was a good choice for today.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 4/5
Matches: 5-0
Games: 10-2
----Finals---- Benny with Martyr again
Game one: My life total: 20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11 (Dark Confidant)
His life total: 20-41-59-47-33-21-9-0
That would be two Martyr activations. Frowny face. On the other hand, Dreadnought takes large chunks out of 60 life.
Game two I Pithing Needled Martyr after only one activation. He Plainscycled Eternal Dragon over and over and over again; the last turn of the game, he bought it back and was one land short of hardcasting it. If his Tabernacle had been a plains, he could have done both. I made a mistake this game when I Dazed when he had an untapped land and then had to Force also. His High Market was very frustrating, making my Swords and Paths much less effective than they should have been. He eventually used Hide/Seek to get rid of my Pithing Needle and gained 15 life. He Extirpated my Dreadnoughts early, then nailed my Forces and Dazes as the game went on, so I had to win with Mishra's Factory, Dark Confidant, and Trinket Magi. I blew him out this game when I cast Trinket Mage for Relic of Progenitus and nailed his Martyr; I couldn't get his Eternal Dragon as well, because that would have let him activate the Martyr again. When all of my damage was being dealt in 2 point increments, I figured another 15 life would be really bad for me. Eventually another Trinket Mage found the Pithing Needle again. I knew he had a Wrath and a Crime/Punishment in hand from an early Martyr activation, so this game took forever. The Crime/Punishment nailed a Dreadnought, the Wrath took another Dreadnought and a Dark Confidant (before Dreadnought had been Extirpated, obviously). It was a long game! I finally got it with 3 Mishra's Factories, 2 Trinket Mage, and a Dark Confidant all swinging.
Matches where I boarded in a Plains: 5/6
Final Record: 6-0 in matches, 12-2 games.
Props: All of my opponents were pretty awesome. Brandon and Benny in the Top 4 were especially nice guys.
George and Ancient Wonders! Awesome tournament, awesome Ancestral Recall.
Dark Confidant. It flipped lands and 1 drops for me all day. I think I ate a Force once.
Wasteland.
Slops: InfoNinjas for not showing up. On the other hand, I got the Recall, so that's pretty awesome.
Thanks again to George at Ancient Wonders!
Changes I'd make to the deck:
The basic Plains was sided in in 5/6 matches; I should probably make room for it in the maindeck.
As soon as I get down to school, I'm going to add a fourth Dark Confidant to the list. Bob was awesome all day.
If I had some Jaces, I might add them to build McCall Dreadstill (http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/legacy/20784_Just_Go_Fing_Kill_Him.html). I could sell the Recall and buy two Jaces and pocket some money, but I could also buy a bunch of fetches and some Duals with the money. We'll see.
Things I would not change about the deck:
The Mishra's Factories were awesome. I wasn't sure about running them without Standstill, but they are definitely worth their 3 slots. Wasteland was worth all 4 as well.
Spell Pierce was great main, and Snare was great in the board. I wouldn't mind some Snares main, but Spell Pierce really pulled its weight.
Relic, Pithing Needle, and Explosives were great in the board, and 1 Explosives main was perfect. 2 Top main also felt perfect--no changes here. I might add 1 Executioner's capsule main, but slots are really tight, and 1BB to destroy a non-black creature is pretty steep.
Things I'm on the fence about with the deck:
I never cast a Peacekeeper, but they're supposed to be really good in some matchups. They can stay for now, I guess.
Counterbalance won the Dark Depths match, and was very solid against Tendrils.
Daze was good all day, but I'd really like another hard counter or two main. Daze and Counterbalance can probably both stay where they are.