JustPAT4
10-20-2011, 07:32 PM
This past Sunday I played in my first sanctioned legacy event since fucking July. Also my first since moving to Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
A fellow sourcer turned me on to Sci-Fi Genre and Games, which is the only store in this region that runs a weekly legacy event.
I had a blast, the staff was helpful, prices were reasonable, and the players were friendly, inviting, and fun.
The tournament had 10 players, most of them fucking ringers, which was perfect for me. A small, but highly developed, super-competitive meta.
These were the registered decks: ANT, Team America, Dredge, Reanimator, U/B counterbalance, U/W Blade Control, U/W/r Blade Control, Bant Aggro, NO Bant, and of course me with Sneak Show.
This is the list I went with:
Main:
4 Sneak Attack
4 Show and Tell
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
2 Misdirection
4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
3 Intuition
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Progenitus
2 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
2 Echoing Truth
3 Lotus Petal
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Volcanic Island
3 Island
1 Mountain
2 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
Side:
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Blood Moon
2 Submerge
3 Firespout
2 Propaganda
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
I ended up going 4-0, never dropping a game.
Here's the tournament report:
Round 1 Vs. Kyle w/ U/B Counterbalance
Jaces, Lilianas, Bobs, Delvers, Hymns, Counters, black spot removal, and counterbalance/top.
Game 1: Fast and bloody. (Starting hand was SnT, Emmy, Force of Will, Echoing Truth, Ponder, Fetch, and Ancient Tomb.) On the play I fetch an island and ponder into Misdirection/Jin/Land. I decide to keep the order. He plays U-Sea into Sensei’s Top and passes. I untap, draw Jin, drop the tomb, and cast SnT. He Forces, I misdirect pitching Jin and plop Emmy on the field while he plops another U-sea. On his 2nd turn he drops a land and casts Liliana (GASP!), but my last two cards in hand are FOW and e-truth, gg.
Game 2: He sets up Counter-balance/Top on his 3rd turn and passes. I’m not too concerned with counterbalance at this point having already cantriped twice and ready to plop down Sneak Attack next turn. I cast Sneak Attack my turn 3, tapping out to do it, but again I have Force + Misdirection and double blue card in hand. He forces, I misdirect, Sneak Attack lands. He casts a Bob next turn and passes. I throw and angry Emrakul at him on my turn and reveal my hand of Jin, Intuition, FOW. GG.
1-0 (2-0)
Round 2 Vs. Jeff w/ Team America
This can be a pretty brutal matchup especially on the draw if they leave mana open for stifle. Playing around wasteland is a must.
Game 1: I keep an awkward hand of Sneak Attack, Brainstorm, E-Truth x2, Island, Fetch, Tomb. He’s on the play and opens with T1 Inquisition of Kozilek taking Brainstorm. I draw SnT on my turn, play fetch, crack getting Mountain and pass. He plays a turn 2 Delver of Secrets and passes, leaving a wasteland untapped. I draw Ponder on turn 2 and cast it revealing Progen, Progen, Misdirection. I put Misdirection on top, draw it and pass. His delver fails to grow, but he does ponder during his turn, plays a second wasteland, and pokes me for 1. My turn 3 I draw Progen, play Tomb cast SnT. He thinks for awhile, asks for the oracle text on Sneak Attack, lets it resolve. I share Progen with the class, he brings a lowly Tarmogoyf. He scoops during his turn.
Game 2: My starting hand is Fetch, Fetch, Petal, Sneak Attack, REB, Ponder, FoW. He starts with Turn 1 Delver. I draw Brainstorm, play/crack fetch for island, cast lotus petal, cast ponder revealing Misdirection, Blood Moon, Sneak Attack. I scarf up the Misdirection and leave Blood Moon on top. On his turn 2 he casts Hymn to Tourach. Living the dream, I misdirect it (pitching BS, but maybe should have been FoW) evoking groans from the entire room. He loses a goyf and a fetch to his own Hymn. On my 2nd turn I draw Blood Moon, play/crack fetch getting a mountain, and decide to go for Blood Moon, figuring he would’ve countered the Hymn if he had it. Blood Moon resolves and is devastating for him. He’s cold to it. 0 basics. His hopes and dreams are pinned on his Delver of secrets, which grows and swings for 3. Of course I’m still gripping the REB, which spikes Delver on my turn 3 and then I have infinite time to draw land, cast Sneak Attack, draw creatures, win.
2-0 (4-0)
Round 3 vs. Russel w/ Bant Aggro
I knew Russel was on Bant, but wasn't sure if he was running the Natural Order package. I did know he was packing KotR, but not too sure about Karakas. Still, if I had the time, I had to play around the potential KotR blowout after SnT into Emmy.
Game 1: I open Ponder, SnT, Emmy, Spell Pierce, Island, Fetch, Petal. On the play I drop the island and Ponder (digging for Progen/Sneak Attack/Intuition) and I whiff, after the suffle I draw Ancient Tomb. Russel starts with a trop and a Noble Hierarch. I draw intuition on my turn and have a decision to make. The line of play I decide on is to Intuition during his EOT for Sneak Attacks, which will open me up to Clique, but seems safer. Maybe not, but I don't want to get blown out by KotR shenanigans. So I play my tomb and petal and pass. Russel decides to Clique me during his main phase (lucky me), which I'm OK with since the Intuition gives me the redunancy I need. He takes the Intuition after some thinking, which gets replaced by Progenitus (awesome). On my turn I draw another spell pierce, play my fetch and cast SnT. He Forces, I spell pierce, SnT resovles I put in Progen, he puts in goyf. I win the race with ease.
Game 2: He mulls to 5 on the play (His 5 turns out to be Spell Pierce, Snapcaster, Tarmogoyf, 2x land, not too bad). This one's pretty quick, though. I SnT turn 3 into Progen. He Spell Pierces and I Misdirect it.
3-0 (6-0)
Round 4 vs. Florian w/ NO Bant
I saw Florian playing between rounds and knew he was a solid, deliberate payer and that he was running NO Bant with V-Cliques, KotR and Karakas. A pretty upsetting matchup on paper.
Game 1: Was epic and awkward. I will try to do it some justice. On the play I keep a hand of x2 SnT, Brainstorm, Ponder, Island, Fetch, Tomb. I open with Island, Ponder and see a bunch of mana and another SnT. After the shuffle, I draw Sneak Attack. He plays a forest and a GSZ for 0, I make him stop and think for a moment, trying to bluff the Daze, then tell him it’s fine. On my turn 2 I draw another Tomb, play my fetch and pass. He fetches up a trop, pokes me with his tree-man, and passes. I brainstorm EOT and manage to draw Show and Tell, Sneak Attack, Misty Rainforest. I’m not quite sure why my deck is donkey punching me in the nuts all of the sudden, but I put back a SnT and a Tomb, then insta-fetch. On my turn I draw my basic Mountain like a champion, run it out, and pass. His turn 3 he brainstorms, plays a fetch, cracks it, and pokes me again with the man land. Back to me, I draw another Misty, making my hand Sneak, Sneak, Show, Show, Misty, Misty, Tomb. I run out the tomb then try to bait out some counter magic by casting a Sneak Attack. It just resolves, which indicates to me that he’s dry. He Cliques me on his turn, looks at my mess, tells me I can keep it, runs his tree into me, and GSZ for 0 again. He now has 7 permanents. On my turn I draw Intuition—fuck yes. I ask him twice if all his lands are tapped, he says yes both times, I’m not sure why the arbor he just Zenithed for is tapped, but partially based on that I make an intuition pile of Emrakul, Emrakul, Jin-Gitaxias. (My thinking is this: I’m on 14, if I blow him out with Emrakul this turn he’s gonna save his V-Clique and I’ll get 4 draws to find another threat before I die to faerie beats. Considering how badly my deck has been shitting on me, even though statistics are in my favor, I decide that after Jin draws me 7, I’m more likely to just win next turn. This was probably a mistake, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless.) Of course he gives me Jin, I Sneak him in, enter my attack step, and Florian then untaps his Dryad arbor, offering "oh this is untapped." I was a little annoyed (the arbor plus the Clique = 4 damage meaning Jin can't swing), but considering that the Arbor was not legally allowed to tap for mana, I just had to suck it up. I skip to the end step, and draw 7 cards which include Intuition, Jin, Brainstorm, x2 Misdirection, double fetch. Bad, but not abysmal. On his turn he Natty Orders up Progen (uh-toh) and it’s do or die time. I untap, brainstorm hoping for Progen or Emrakul before I Intuition, but instead draw E-Truth, Lotus petal, island. That’s ok, now I’ve got a path to victory. I’m at exactly 10 at this point and he still has 7 permanents. I run out the petal and a fetch, Intuition a pile of Emmy’s, E-truth the Clique (the only legal target on his side), and crash in with Emrakul wiping him out. Needed all 7 mana I had open for that ridiculousness.
Game 2: A bit more reasonable. He starts with a Heath and passes, I ponder into Force, Blood Moon, Emrakul (I already have show and tell and mana in hand), I draw the force, and keep the blood moon on top. He plays karakas as his land for turn and passes. I play a fetch and pass. He plays a trop, passes, and I brainstorm during his EOT. Next turn I cast Blood Moon, and I force his force. The turn after that I SnT into Emrakul.
4-0 (8-0)
Props to Jeff for running a solid tournament, giving me a ride home, and inviting me to his poker game that night.
Cheers,
Pat
A fellow sourcer turned me on to Sci-Fi Genre and Games, which is the only store in this region that runs a weekly legacy event.
I had a blast, the staff was helpful, prices were reasonable, and the players were friendly, inviting, and fun.
The tournament had 10 players, most of them fucking ringers, which was perfect for me. A small, but highly developed, super-competitive meta.
These were the registered decks: ANT, Team America, Dredge, Reanimator, U/B counterbalance, U/W Blade Control, U/W/r Blade Control, Bant Aggro, NO Bant, and of course me with Sneak Show.
This is the list I went with:
Main:
4 Sneak Attack
4 Show and Tell
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
2 Misdirection
4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
3 Intuition
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Progenitus
2 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
2 Echoing Truth
3 Lotus Petal
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Volcanic Island
3 Island
1 Mountain
2 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
Side:
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Blood Moon
2 Submerge
3 Firespout
2 Propaganda
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
I ended up going 4-0, never dropping a game.
Here's the tournament report:
Round 1 Vs. Kyle w/ U/B Counterbalance
Jaces, Lilianas, Bobs, Delvers, Hymns, Counters, black spot removal, and counterbalance/top.
Game 1: Fast and bloody. (Starting hand was SnT, Emmy, Force of Will, Echoing Truth, Ponder, Fetch, and Ancient Tomb.) On the play I fetch an island and ponder into Misdirection/Jin/Land. I decide to keep the order. He plays U-Sea into Sensei’s Top and passes. I untap, draw Jin, drop the tomb, and cast SnT. He Forces, I misdirect pitching Jin and plop Emmy on the field while he plops another U-sea. On his 2nd turn he drops a land and casts Liliana (GASP!), but my last two cards in hand are FOW and e-truth, gg.
Game 2: He sets up Counter-balance/Top on his 3rd turn and passes. I’m not too concerned with counterbalance at this point having already cantriped twice and ready to plop down Sneak Attack next turn. I cast Sneak Attack my turn 3, tapping out to do it, but again I have Force + Misdirection and double blue card in hand. He forces, I misdirect, Sneak Attack lands. He casts a Bob next turn and passes. I throw and angry Emrakul at him on my turn and reveal my hand of Jin, Intuition, FOW. GG.
1-0 (2-0)
Round 2 Vs. Jeff w/ Team America
This can be a pretty brutal matchup especially on the draw if they leave mana open for stifle. Playing around wasteland is a must.
Game 1: I keep an awkward hand of Sneak Attack, Brainstorm, E-Truth x2, Island, Fetch, Tomb. He’s on the play and opens with T1 Inquisition of Kozilek taking Brainstorm. I draw SnT on my turn, play fetch, crack getting Mountain and pass. He plays a turn 2 Delver of Secrets and passes, leaving a wasteland untapped. I draw Ponder on turn 2 and cast it revealing Progen, Progen, Misdirection. I put Misdirection on top, draw it and pass. His delver fails to grow, but he does ponder during his turn, plays a second wasteland, and pokes me for 1. My turn 3 I draw Progen, play Tomb cast SnT. He thinks for awhile, asks for the oracle text on Sneak Attack, lets it resolve. I share Progen with the class, he brings a lowly Tarmogoyf. He scoops during his turn.
Game 2: My starting hand is Fetch, Fetch, Petal, Sneak Attack, REB, Ponder, FoW. He starts with Turn 1 Delver. I draw Brainstorm, play/crack fetch for island, cast lotus petal, cast ponder revealing Misdirection, Blood Moon, Sneak Attack. I scarf up the Misdirection and leave Blood Moon on top. On his turn 2 he casts Hymn to Tourach. Living the dream, I misdirect it (pitching BS, but maybe should have been FoW) evoking groans from the entire room. He loses a goyf and a fetch to his own Hymn. On my 2nd turn I draw Blood Moon, play/crack fetch getting a mountain, and decide to go for Blood Moon, figuring he would’ve countered the Hymn if he had it. Blood Moon resolves and is devastating for him. He’s cold to it. 0 basics. His hopes and dreams are pinned on his Delver of secrets, which grows and swings for 3. Of course I’m still gripping the REB, which spikes Delver on my turn 3 and then I have infinite time to draw land, cast Sneak Attack, draw creatures, win.
2-0 (4-0)
Round 3 vs. Russel w/ Bant Aggro
I knew Russel was on Bant, but wasn't sure if he was running the Natural Order package. I did know he was packing KotR, but not too sure about Karakas. Still, if I had the time, I had to play around the potential KotR blowout after SnT into Emmy.
Game 1: I open Ponder, SnT, Emmy, Spell Pierce, Island, Fetch, Petal. On the play I drop the island and Ponder (digging for Progen/Sneak Attack/Intuition) and I whiff, after the suffle I draw Ancient Tomb. Russel starts with a trop and a Noble Hierarch. I draw intuition on my turn and have a decision to make. The line of play I decide on is to Intuition during his EOT for Sneak Attacks, which will open me up to Clique, but seems safer. Maybe not, but I don't want to get blown out by KotR shenanigans. So I play my tomb and petal and pass. Russel decides to Clique me during his main phase (lucky me), which I'm OK with since the Intuition gives me the redunancy I need. He takes the Intuition after some thinking, which gets replaced by Progenitus (awesome). On my turn I draw another spell pierce, play my fetch and cast SnT. He Forces, I spell pierce, SnT resovles I put in Progen, he puts in goyf. I win the race with ease.
Game 2: He mulls to 5 on the play (His 5 turns out to be Spell Pierce, Snapcaster, Tarmogoyf, 2x land, not too bad). This one's pretty quick, though. I SnT turn 3 into Progen. He Spell Pierces and I Misdirect it.
3-0 (6-0)
Round 4 vs. Florian w/ NO Bant
I saw Florian playing between rounds and knew he was a solid, deliberate payer and that he was running NO Bant with V-Cliques, KotR and Karakas. A pretty upsetting matchup on paper.
Game 1: Was epic and awkward. I will try to do it some justice. On the play I keep a hand of x2 SnT, Brainstorm, Ponder, Island, Fetch, Tomb. I open with Island, Ponder and see a bunch of mana and another SnT. After the shuffle, I draw Sneak Attack. He plays a forest and a GSZ for 0, I make him stop and think for a moment, trying to bluff the Daze, then tell him it’s fine. On my turn 2 I draw another Tomb, play my fetch and pass. He fetches up a trop, pokes me with his tree-man, and passes. I brainstorm EOT and manage to draw Show and Tell, Sneak Attack, Misty Rainforest. I’m not quite sure why my deck is donkey punching me in the nuts all of the sudden, but I put back a SnT and a Tomb, then insta-fetch. On my turn I draw my basic Mountain like a champion, run it out, and pass. His turn 3 he brainstorms, plays a fetch, cracks it, and pokes me again with the man land. Back to me, I draw another Misty, making my hand Sneak, Sneak, Show, Show, Misty, Misty, Tomb. I run out the tomb then try to bait out some counter magic by casting a Sneak Attack. It just resolves, which indicates to me that he’s dry. He Cliques me on his turn, looks at my mess, tells me I can keep it, runs his tree into me, and GSZ for 0 again. He now has 7 permanents. On my turn I draw Intuition—fuck yes. I ask him twice if all his lands are tapped, he says yes both times, I’m not sure why the arbor he just Zenithed for is tapped, but partially based on that I make an intuition pile of Emrakul, Emrakul, Jin-Gitaxias. (My thinking is this: I’m on 14, if I blow him out with Emrakul this turn he’s gonna save his V-Clique and I’ll get 4 draws to find another threat before I die to faerie beats. Considering how badly my deck has been shitting on me, even though statistics are in my favor, I decide that after Jin draws me 7, I’m more likely to just win next turn. This was probably a mistake, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless.) Of course he gives me Jin, I Sneak him in, enter my attack step, and Florian then untaps his Dryad arbor, offering "oh this is untapped." I was a little annoyed (the arbor plus the Clique = 4 damage meaning Jin can't swing), but considering that the Arbor was not legally allowed to tap for mana, I just had to suck it up. I skip to the end step, and draw 7 cards which include Intuition, Jin, Brainstorm, x2 Misdirection, double fetch. Bad, but not abysmal. On his turn he Natty Orders up Progen (uh-toh) and it’s do or die time. I untap, brainstorm hoping for Progen or Emrakul before I Intuition, but instead draw E-Truth, Lotus petal, island. That’s ok, now I’ve got a path to victory. I’m at exactly 10 at this point and he still has 7 permanents. I run out the petal and a fetch, Intuition a pile of Emmy’s, E-truth the Clique (the only legal target on his side), and crash in with Emrakul wiping him out. Needed all 7 mana I had open for that ridiculousness.
Game 2: A bit more reasonable. He starts with a Heath and passes, I ponder into Force, Blood Moon, Emrakul (I already have show and tell and mana in hand), I draw the force, and keep the blood moon on top. He plays karakas as his land for turn and passes. I play a fetch and pass. He plays a trop, passes, and I brainstorm during his EOT. Next turn I cast Blood Moon, and I force his force. The turn after that I SnT into Emrakul.
4-0 (8-0)
Props to Jeff for running a solid tournament, giving me a ride home, and inviting me to his poker game that night.
Cheers,
Pat