damionblackgear
11-05-2011, 08:11 AM
The day started off great. I fell asleep sometime around 2am and had one of those dreams where you wake up at 6am with your adrenaline going so you can't go back to sleep. So, I speed ran Megaman X3 took a 45 minute shower (It's nice to be in a hotel. They don't run out of hot water) and proceeded to pack since we were leaving to take the 7 hour drive home for when things went sour.
After the rest of my room woke up and finished getting packed. We dropped everything off in the car and walked to the Grocery store 3 blocks from the site. 1 pound of nuts (oh yes, Enter the Fist!), a box of Oats and Honey Granola bars, and a half gallon of Strawberry, Orange, Banana Juice found their way to the register and into my backpack. Today was destined to be a good day.
So, what did I play? I remember trolling Jerad Silva when he called my list Rock as one to look at when I came in 20th in Atlanta. He asked me why it wasn't Rock. I didn't have an answer then because I didn’t want to look at the old lists and find the exact reason (that deck is old). I do now. It's not Rock... That's a ramp deck. P.S. It's not PT Junk. My creatures are good (and not laughed at when I play them).
So, what is it? I'm giving the archetype a new name. I hope it sticks because I'm tired of being compared to an extended deck that got ported and started using Spirit Monger or the one that played creatures based on their ability to play around removal and had some type of evasion.
The Old Republic (and yes, Stoneforge is a Jedi, she's got 2 light sabers floating around her. I call that using the force.)
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Dark Confidant
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Qasali Pridemage
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Thoughtseize
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Green Sun Zenith
1 Sylvan Library
3 Mox Diamond
2 Sensei's Diving Top
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull
2 Liliana of the Viel
1 Marsh Flats
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Windswept Heath
2 Bayou
1 Savannah
1 Scubland
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dyrad Arbor
1 Karakas
3 Wasteland
1 Maze of Ith
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
Sideboard
1 Duress
2 Extirpate
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sylvan Library
2 Eithersworn Cannonist
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Choke
3 Dismember
2 Pernicious Deed
Round 1 vs Jordan Lee, Dredge
Game 1 starts of with my opponent sitting across from me, a player younger than I am. The best part? He's game for Monopoly rolling! You may not make sense to you but that's because it's not common to hear other people play by the rules (I'll explain those after the report. If you're interested, you can read them whenever).
I win and we start. The typical back and forth begins with my playing a swamp and a top into him discarding a dredger. Well, I know what I'm playing against. We chat a little bit more and the game progresses. He still doesn't have an Ichorid in the yard but, He's got 4 tokens for sac'ing Narcomeba's to Cabal Therapy. I drop a Knight into play. His turn, he dredges another Bridge into the yard and I waste my Arbor when goes to get tokens from it. The next turn, I Zenith for 2 and grab Scavengine Ooze. There's too much on the board stopping him and he scoops.
Game 2 the tides have turned. Naturally, I draw and play the Teeg on turn 1 stopping him from using Breakthrough or Return anything from the yard. Unfortunately, I don't see enough before Ichorid's and Zombies take control and run me over.
Game 3 I decide to be a little risky. I keep a hand that's 2x Dark Confidant (Bob), 2x Swords to Plowshares (Swords), land, Mox Land. If you're playing against Dredge, you should know, this hand. Isn't good. This is a terrible hand. You have no way to interact, or even really slow them outside of swording Ichorids before they die. I on the other hand, decide I'm supposed to be retired so whatever, LET'S GO!
So, First turn I play Bob. He plays careful study discarding a Dredgers... I'm not happy here. I know he's got a Breakthrough in his hand. So, Bob shows a land (Trust me, He should show me a lot less than he does) and I draw, Teeg! GAME ON! I slam Teeg on the baord and attack for two. The game proceeds and My opponent can only dredge once. No bridge, no Theropy, no Ichorid, no problem. I precede to swords the Narco's and eventually Green Sun for 2 when Teeg falls to a zombie. My opponent scoops.
1-0
In between rounds I start hearing about combo decks making amazing plays to win their game. One about someone playing quad Lotus Pedal (one tutored) into Chain of vapor sac'ing all of their land to bounce all of their Pedals into replaying the pedals (if you lost count, that's 10 spells) into Tendrills for the win...
Someone else tells me about a ANT (not TES, there is a difference) player who went off with 2 Leyline of Sanctity on the board... I'm terrified. My combo matchup is closer to 70-30 them. My board plan? Side out all Pride and Dignity, in all Hope and Prayer.
Round 2 vs Michael Bryant, Goblins... THANK YOU!! NOT COMBO!
Game 1 – I win the Monopoly Roll! Oh yeah. Today's starting off great! I normally only get 2-3 people to Monopoly Roll a tournament. I keep a hand that's got Zenith, 3 lands (Fetch, Canopy, and Waste), Liliana, Mox, and something I can't remember... sorry.
Anyways. What's a strapping you lad like myself supposed to do? Well, First turn I drop the Canopy to the Mox and Zenith for 1. Let's go birds. My Plan? Play Liliana and Kill his Delver with daze mana up or waste him back to 0 lands! I like the plan. I think it's awesome. Then he wrecks it by playing Goblin Lackey. Well, needless to say, I play liliana and edict him. The next turn I drop knight and discard. The game ends too quickly to recount other randomly useful plays but it's very difficult for an aggressive creature based deck to beat a Liliana on their Turn 1.
Game 2 – I’ve got no Liliana in hand. Another Mox opener though. And a first turn Stoneforge for Batterskull. Second turn Skull with swords mana up. Third turn Stoneforge for Jitte... Yeah. To my opponent, “I'm sorry. That isn't usually what happens. Next time we'll play magic.”
2-0
I talk to some friends; one tells me he just beat ANT with Goblins. Another beats it with Zoo. I'm super happy. I haven't heard of any other combo decks outside of Hivemind which is closer to 50-50 than anything else. It's a match that is very draw dependent on the both of us... and I can easily solve an Emrakul by just dropping Knight to the Show and tell (best outlet ever by the way, he gives you an extra land so if you're up to 4 mana and have 1 Box or Bird, you can pay for titan pact as well). The discard really hurts them as well.
Round 3 vs Samuel Davis, Burn... :-\ Oh NO.
So, I sit down from my opponent, he seems younger than I am (p.s. I’m 27 and celebrating my 22nd b-day next year) and is filled with energy. This is awesome! I love playing people who are fun. The games are so awesome when your opponent isn't uptight, mean, or even just letting their bad day out.
My opponent tells me that he's never played legacy before but managed to foil out his deck... I assume he's elves. It’s relatively cheap and easily able to foil if you look. He wins the role plays first... Mountain, Go. My heart and chances of victory sink. My combo match is bad. This is terrible. I think I've won 3 games against burn with my deck.
Oh well, I'll try. We start to banter back and forth but, it's not working. I watch my life total make these changes: 15-->12-->11-->8-->4-->0.
Game 2 – I manage to deal some damage to him. 3! I'm super happy. It doesn't matter. My life goes this fast on my notepad: 20-->19-->16-->13-->10-->6--->3-->0
2-1
So, that didn't go well. It's ok. These things happen. Next time... yeah. Next time.
I go check with the people I came down with. Gene's also 2-1 (losing this round) and so are most of the 8 people who came down from Minnesota that I've been able to see before the start of the next round.
Round 4 vs Brett Jansen, Stoneblade (I hate these new deck name styles. What happened to deck names like Truffle Shuffle?!)
Game 1 – we both do our thing. Stoneforge into Batterskulls... blah blah. It's not all that interesting for me to repeat what you all say for month on end BUT, I made a mistake. This was a game that I was most definitely in the lead (beating for 1 with him not really having a way to interact) until he plays Batterskull. Now, I have a Pulse in my hand and the Sylvan library showed me the Pridemage last turn... I know he has a Jace in hand from the first turn Thoughtseize.
So, what was my mistake? Well, let's look at The Plan:
Step 1) Get Pridemage + land with library (both known to be on top)
Step 2) Destroy Batterskull with Pridemage.
Step 3) Pulse Jace.
Step 4) Win via card selection/advantage.
Now let's look at The Plan I followed:
Step 1) Get Pridemage + land with library.
Step 2) Destroy Batterskull with Pulse.
Step 3) Stare at Jace as he starts to take over the game.
Step 4) Lose via card selection/advantage.
Yeah, Not cool. FOLLOW THE PLAN!
Game 2 – No mistakes meant no issues. I've got 2 losses to this deck, pre/post Misstep total (Not my Reanimator record... EPIC FORSHADOWING!) but to my own play errors cause me to lose the match. Let's just say that Choke is still amazing against this deck.
Game 3 – It starts off with him playing Mystic and going on a rampage with a Batterskull. After a little baiting, I destroy it and show why relying on one card isn't the way to go at it in this format. Why was it destroyed? Ever been Choked? We go to time. Him casting Wrath from 3 life, me swinging at him with a Batterskull w/SoFI on the field. I take it on turn 5 of turns. Ending life totals the turn before? 35-3.
3-1
My opponent and I share in pleasant conversation about the match. It got intense at the end (racing to win and not draw) but we joked the whole beginning of the match. He looked like the guy I scooped to in the standard portion earlier this year so we chatted it up in the beginning.
Funny thing, I switched to a blue deck prior to Misstep and switched back when Misstep forced Combo decks to have to deal with more, and more blue decks. More blue decks means less combo and more of my styled decks (which, when played correctly, prey upon blue decks like nobody’s business). More of my styled decks means that there will be more combo in the format.
Quick Rant - Blue is being pushed as one of the best colors in magic. I've even gone so far as to say yes at some points. The thing is:
Blue is the best color to gain card selection (brainstorm isn't card draw, it's a hand filter and still requires a shuffle effect to be completely useful).
Black is actually the best color for selecting what you want from a spell (ever played a real tutor?).
White has the best removal spell (Sword's only restriction is it can't hit shroud or protection).
Green has the best creatures (Arguing? Why do you think Goyf had a $100 price tag? Ever seen something like that from a blue creature that saw play and wasn't just a novelty?)
Red... Burn. That enough? Outside of Morphling, there's a burn spell for every situation… I think there’s one for Morphling too.
The best thing you can do is play something gold that's actually good. Spiritmonger was awesome back in the day because it got super huge and could dodge everything but swords. That included protection from colors. You just had to give it trample. Well, rant's over.
Rant Over.
Round 5 vs Edgar Flores, Esper Blade (See what I'm saying about names?! This is terrible)
Game 1 – I keep a hand that's got a Mystic and a Thoughtseize. I start an internal debate about just not Thoughtseizing on Turn 1 and letting him play the Mystic I know he has (I mean come on, this is Edgar Flores, He can play Caw-Blade...) but I decide that I'll just do it anyway (STICK TO THE PLAN!). I take his Jace (seeing a Thoughtseize) since I don't have a way to deal with it and he goes and gets his Batterskull. I draw an answer for the Batterskull so I decided to just let my B.Skull go away... Yup, I played my mystic. Remember my statement about playing correctly? This was not that. He counters my answer and takes over the game and I'm locked out from a Jace he draws shortly after.
Game 2 – I still misplay but their nowhere near the level I did before (Why am I telling people that I made mistakes during my report?!). We keep going and he's backpedaling super hard. I've killed his Batterskull, all of his Mystics and Snapcasters, removed his graveyard. And forced him to mill himself for 15 with Darkblast on Teeg and Bob's. I'm at 35 life, he's at 2. I FINALLY see a Choke from Sylvan Library. In fact, I see the second one as well... IRONY... and set it up so that if he Cliques me I'll still get a one. Of course he Cliques me... but he leaves me with it?! He's got 3 lands that will untap if he it resolves and 1 card in hand. So, does he play a 1 of Counterspell? NOPE! Choke resolves. Clique swings for 3. I see Karakas (Knight's didn't stay out long enough to tutor it). I bounce the clique and start thinking of win-con's. Somewhere in my 20 cards is a Bird of Paradise, and 2 Zenith to find it and there's a Pridemage on my side that makes it so he can't swing either... Deal! I can swing for 2 with the exalted bird if he's got a way to survive with the 10 cards in his library. 10 turns later, he's lost by milling.
With only 4 minutes on the clock we decide to draw.
3-1-1
It's really fun to win and you should always learn something from the loss. So, a Draw. Where does that leave you? Well, it's the best of all words. Think of it this way, you won, and lost. Needless to say though, I wasn't happy about it, and neither was my opponent. After a walk I realized something. From a tournament standpoint, this was the best thing possible for me. I was in the draw bracket. I wasn't going to play against Combo or Burn from the draw bracket so, I'm only at risk now if I play up, or down.
Round 6 vs Reanimator (OH BABY!)
So, before I start this, I'm proud to announce, I've NEVER lost a match to this deck, since the unbanning of Entomb. I was fine with this going off and doing things with Mystical Tutor. The only person who's every got me with this deck played it before entomb was banned and the deck played Phantom Nishoba … I do however have a draw against the deck. My very first match against it (with Mysticals) I ended up having to Deed Iona off of the table to take game 1.
Game 1 starts with me keeping. Him on draw. I've got a swords, Zenith and Liliana in hand. So, I'm keeping. I fetch and zenith for arbor so I can Liliana turn 2 (I'm dreaming of round 2). He plays Careful and discards... land and animate deck. The deals off. I know what I'm playing. I draw... KARAKAS!!!. DEAL. This game is locked. Arbor goes in for 7 before my opponent finally realizes that he can't be the the instrument of my aggression, Dryad Arbor. Why is the arbor doing so well? Every Legenday creature get's bounced and the non-legendary ones will get Edicted, thanks to the Liliana on the field at 7! He shows me his hand of Daze, Daze, Reanimate, Reanimate, Exume, Exume, Exume. All I can say is, “Sometimes probability happens.”
Game 2. I keep and hand with Knight, Bob, Fetch, Extirpate, Swords, Karakas, and... do I care about the rest? I keep up the swords, extirpate and karakas and make my first play on turn 3, Bob. I follow up with another one, He casts Show and Tell, I drop Knight into play and bounce his Jin in his second Main. The next turn I extirpate his Show and tells (Let's use the graveyard please) and go to town. Another Bob joins the fight and Knight stays back to make sure nothing happens (That bog's in my deck somewhere). I Thoughtseize him on the last turn and he shows me a perish... I decided that since he's at 4, the best thing I could do is take the force (Let's keep that swords up) and swing him down to 4. he scoops.
4-1-1
… Record vs Reanimator since Entomb's unbaning still X-0-1. My opponent was OK with the loss. No he wasn't thrilled, but we had fun. It's OK to have fun. I feel that's something that was lost when I last played. I forgot how to have fun losing. It became about winning and YES, that's nice. But what good is winning if you're not having fun along the way? We part ways and I go watch a couple buddies play. I'm pretty sure this is the round I convince Mark not to drop from the event (you're welcome) but I don't remember for sure. I'm sure it'll be in his report up on Quietspeculation.
Round 7 vs Delver America I don't know how to treat this deck's name (How bout them Cardinals?!).
My opponent Crushes me by rolling doubles... and then my number, 10. I swear, sometimes, you just can't beat the dice.
Game 1 we start off. He's got a Creaping Tarpit?! -My Thoughts-Wait, what just happened? OK. Must be the UGB lands variant -back to the game- Imaging my surprise when he hymns me next turn taking my Knight and Swords... Well, Goyf still lands. He starts trying to race me with Tarpit but falls about 8 points short.
Game 2 we my opponent plays first.... again with the Delvers. Is this what I have to look forward to? Well, either way. The delver is joined by a goyf and I'm overrun by the duo quickly. I did manage to sneak a sword into play so he knows I'm on the mystic plan.
Game 3 I decide that I'm going for it. That's right. 1st Turn, Bob. He looks, realizes that he's boarded out most of his forces and says, “This is bad.” Bob proceeds to draw me into everything a man could every wish to see in magic (since in real life this would only be a couple of things). Including Choke and waste to put my opponent back to 1 land against Bob a pair of knights that are too big to Ghastly Demise (Go Bojuka Bog).
Again, another opponent who was super amounts of fun. Turns out that we've known some of the same people. It's awesome to find that out when you get somewhere as you have something to talk about. The best part, is that I found out by incorrectly identifying the owner of a member of a BEAUTIFUL Polluted delta.
5-1-1
Round 8 Vs Jason Golliher, Red Thresh.
I'm sure I could tell you what happened but, thankfully someone else already did that. Thank You Glen.
So, instead, I'll tell you what you didn't get to see and what Glen couldn't tell you (since he wasn't in my head). 1st. I won the roll. I didn't win it because I rolled higher than him. I won the roll because he rolled 3-3, 4-4 6-6. TRIPPLE DOUBLES!!!! I WIN. I made a HUGE scene about it.
Game 1, I played Knight into the counterbalance because 3 has always been difficult for people to hit with their Counterbalance. I was Baiting a Force or him to use his only land to top and try to hit with Counterbalance. I wanted the Mystic because I couldn't beat a Jace if he was able to float 3. Mystic got Sword of Fire and Ice and would be able to vial it in and protect 1 of the would be two creatures on the field if Jace did land.
The Bog played before the Mystic was to make sure he had to put everything into either searching for stuff to shoot the Mystic or trying to find an answer for the now two Knights. Sometimes, additional costs can be a hindrance at times. That's why I cut the Nomad Stadium (reference Old ATL list, SCG ATL 20th place).
Game 2, Arbor was the lead land to be able to play the Bob in hand. I would've blocked the Delver to make sure I had some time. I didn't have another land though. I figured I'd save the life and draw the land instead of trying to land things that may not survive. The longer the game goes in that fashion, the worse this game gets for me. Either way,
Game 3, the Sylvan Library wasn't without fear of Daze. I wanted it to get Dazed. That would make sure the way was clear for my Goyf and also make it a little bit bigger (especially since it wouldn't survive the Bolt if I played it then). I didn't expect it to actually hit. That was just a bonus.
Playing Batterskull was to bring Goyf up to lethal with the Mystic in play. I knew he had the Grudge in hand as he showed it to flip his Delver. One of those old theories, “Sacrifice something small to gain something big.”
The search last fetch with Knight was because I there wasn't removal in the top 2 cards (that's library). There were 3 Swords, 3 Dismembers, 2 Choke, 2 Pulses, and 2 Liliana left in the deck. I figured fetching the bayou leaving me with the ability to cast them all was for what I wanted to do. If you're wondering why the Chokes mattered, he brainstormed and didn't find the Bolt. He had 1 card in hand that I knew wasn't the win (as it wasn't played) and had no open lands. Choke keeps all of his blue tapped; making it impossible to search fast enough to survive 2 attacks (As I'll end up killing the blocker prior to him getting past the two cards). I assumed he put a cantrip of some kind on top of his library (he told me it was a brainstorm after).
Before that Round I was in 10th place. The winner of the round got into t8. With my scoop, I ended up outside of t16 and landed 1 spot off of my predetermined location, 21st. Seriously, I think that was the biggest blow of the entire tournament. Not that I didn't t16, but that I'd become comfortable with the 20th spot in the legacy events I played in (SCG only). Denver and Atlanta had both been 20th place finishes and I missed by 1... on breakers. So, You won't see my list on Starcity, you'll have to look above.
If you want to know why I scooped, that's simple. He's a friend and wasn't qualified for North Carolina yet, I am. He didn't ask me if you're wondering. He was as shocked as everyone else to see me Maze my own Goyf.
Sometimes, you have to look past the things that you're used to doing to help people. I don't get to see him since he moved from Minnesota and I value my friends, even if I don't seem it sometimes. So, I'd rather spend some time with a buddy when I can than run a top 8 with only 1 bad match-up (never said I was humble).
Overall, I loved playing the deck. It's been a while since the list had a Goyf in it and I have to say, It's needed again. Before, you could do things and keep your plan slower but now, Delver makes you have to race sometimes. We'll see what happens from here.
If you're thinking of playing the deck, what's my advice? Take your time. This isn't a blue deck (aka. No training wheels). You can't just pick it up and have it work like a charm. You have to think. You have to learn to play not only this deck, but your opponent's deck. I don't think this is a starter deck by any means. This styled deck is like graduate school. When you're ready, give it a shot. It's tons of fun. Oh, one other piece of advice. Don't tilt. It's just a game... and you'll lose.
PS. No Props/Slops. I'd rather leave it at this since I'd kick myself for not asking if I could have the pin for my friend. Maybe Jason will read this and let me have it later ;)
----- Additional Fun Times -----
Monopoly Rolling
High Roll using 2x 6-Sided Dice.
Doubles Roll again.
Rolls are Cumulative - First Roll is totals 3, second roll totals 5. Your Roll now sits at 8. 3+5=8
Rolling tripple double means you lose.
Totaling 30 means you lose (Go to Jail spot on board).
After the rest of my room woke up and finished getting packed. We dropped everything off in the car and walked to the Grocery store 3 blocks from the site. 1 pound of nuts (oh yes, Enter the Fist!), a box of Oats and Honey Granola bars, and a half gallon of Strawberry, Orange, Banana Juice found their way to the register and into my backpack. Today was destined to be a good day.
So, what did I play? I remember trolling Jerad Silva when he called my list Rock as one to look at when I came in 20th in Atlanta. He asked me why it wasn't Rock. I didn't have an answer then because I didn’t want to look at the old lists and find the exact reason (that deck is old). I do now. It's not Rock... That's a ramp deck. P.S. It's not PT Junk. My creatures are good (and not laughed at when I play them).
So, what is it? I'm giving the archetype a new name. I hope it sticks because I'm tired of being compared to an extended deck that got ported and started using Spirit Monger or the one that played creatures based on their ability to play around removal and had some type of evasion.
The Old Republic (and yes, Stoneforge is a Jedi, she's got 2 light sabers floating around her. I call that using the force.)
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Dark Confidant
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Qasali Pridemage
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Thoughtseize
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Green Sun Zenith
1 Sylvan Library
3 Mox Diamond
2 Sensei's Diving Top
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull
2 Liliana of the Viel
1 Marsh Flats
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Windswept Heath
2 Bayou
1 Savannah
1 Scubland
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dyrad Arbor
1 Karakas
3 Wasteland
1 Maze of Ith
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
Sideboard
1 Duress
2 Extirpate
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sylvan Library
2 Eithersworn Cannonist
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Choke
3 Dismember
2 Pernicious Deed
Round 1 vs Jordan Lee, Dredge
Game 1 starts of with my opponent sitting across from me, a player younger than I am. The best part? He's game for Monopoly rolling! You may not make sense to you but that's because it's not common to hear other people play by the rules (I'll explain those after the report. If you're interested, you can read them whenever).
I win and we start. The typical back and forth begins with my playing a swamp and a top into him discarding a dredger. Well, I know what I'm playing against. We chat a little bit more and the game progresses. He still doesn't have an Ichorid in the yard but, He's got 4 tokens for sac'ing Narcomeba's to Cabal Therapy. I drop a Knight into play. His turn, he dredges another Bridge into the yard and I waste my Arbor when goes to get tokens from it. The next turn, I Zenith for 2 and grab Scavengine Ooze. There's too much on the board stopping him and he scoops.
Game 2 the tides have turned. Naturally, I draw and play the Teeg on turn 1 stopping him from using Breakthrough or Return anything from the yard. Unfortunately, I don't see enough before Ichorid's and Zombies take control and run me over.
Game 3 I decide to be a little risky. I keep a hand that's 2x Dark Confidant (Bob), 2x Swords to Plowshares (Swords), land, Mox Land. If you're playing against Dredge, you should know, this hand. Isn't good. This is a terrible hand. You have no way to interact, or even really slow them outside of swording Ichorids before they die. I on the other hand, decide I'm supposed to be retired so whatever, LET'S GO!
So, First turn I play Bob. He plays careful study discarding a Dredgers... I'm not happy here. I know he's got a Breakthrough in his hand. So, Bob shows a land (Trust me, He should show me a lot less than he does) and I draw, Teeg! GAME ON! I slam Teeg on the baord and attack for two. The game proceeds and My opponent can only dredge once. No bridge, no Theropy, no Ichorid, no problem. I precede to swords the Narco's and eventually Green Sun for 2 when Teeg falls to a zombie. My opponent scoops.
1-0
In between rounds I start hearing about combo decks making amazing plays to win their game. One about someone playing quad Lotus Pedal (one tutored) into Chain of vapor sac'ing all of their land to bounce all of their Pedals into replaying the pedals (if you lost count, that's 10 spells) into Tendrills for the win...
Someone else tells me about a ANT (not TES, there is a difference) player who went off with 2 Leyline of Sanctity on the board... I'm terrified. My combo matchup is closer to 70-30 them. My board plan? Side out all Pride and Dignity, in all Hope and Prayer.
Round 2 vs Michael Bryant, Goblins... THANK YOU!! NOT COMBO!
Game 1 – I win the Monopoly Roll! Oh yeah. Today's starting off great! I normally only get 2-3 people to Monopoly Roll a tournament. I keep a hand that's got Zenith, 3 lands (Fetch, Canopy, and Waste), Liliana, Mox, and something I can't remember... sorry.
Anyways. What's a strapping you lad like myself supposed to do? Well, First turn I drop the Canopy to the Mox and Zenith for 1. Let's go birds. My Plan? Play Liliana and Kill his Delver with daze mana up or waste him back to 0 lands! I like the plan. I think it's awesome. Then he wrecks it by playing Goblin Lackey. Well, needless to say, I play liliana and edict him. The next turn I drop knight and discard. The game ends too quickly to recount other randomly useful plays but it's very difficult for an aggressive creature based deck to beat a Liliana on their Turn 1.
Game 2 – I’ve got no Liliana in hand. Another Mox opener though. And a first turn Stoneforge for Batterskull. Second turn Skull with swords mana up. Third turn Stoneforge for Jitte... Yeah. To my opponent, “I'm sorry. That isn't usually what happens. Next time we'll play magic.”
2-0
I talk to some friends; one tells me he just beat ANT with Goblins. Another beats it with Zoo. I'm super happy. I haven't heard of any other combo decks outside of Hivemind which is closer to 50-50 than anything else. It's a match that is very draw dependent on the both of us... and I can easily solve an Emrakul by just dropping Knight to the Show and tell (best outlet ever by the way, he gives you an extra land so if you're up to 4 mana and have 1 Box or Bird, you can pay for titan pact as well). The discard really hurts them as well.
Round 3 vs Samuel Davis, Burn... :-\ Oh NO.
So, I sit down from my opponent, he seems younger than I am (p.s. I’m 27 and celebrating my 22nd b-day next year) and is filled with energy. This is awesome! I love playing people who are fun. The games are so awesome when your opponent isn't uptight, mean, or even just letting their bad day out.
My opponent tells me that he's never played legacy before but managed to foil out his deck... I assume he's elves. It’s relatively cheap and easily able to foil if you look. He wins the role plays first... Mountain, Go. My heart and chances of victory sink. My combo match is bad. This is terrible. I think I've won 3 games against burn with my deck.
Oh well, I'll try. We start to banter back and forth but, it's not working. I watch my life total make these changes: 15-->12-->11-->8-->4-->0.
Game 2 – I manage to deal some damage to him. 3! I'm super happy. It doesn't matter. My life goes this fast on my notepad: 20-->19-->16-->13-->10-->6--->3-->0
2-1
So, that didn't go well. It's ok. These things happen. Next time... yeah. Next time.
I go check with the people I came down with. Gene's also 2-1 (losing this round) and so are most of the 8 people who came down from Minnesota that I've been able to see before the start of the next round.
Round 4 vs Brett Jansen, Stoneblade (I hate these new deck name styles. What happened to deck names like Truffle Shuffle?!)
Game 1 – we both do our thing. Stoneforge into Batterskulls... blah blah. It's not all that interesting for me to repeat what you all say for month on end BUT, I made a mistake. This was a game that I was most definitely in the lead (beating for 1 with him not really having a way to interact) until he plays Batterskull. Now, I have a Pulse in my hand and the Sylvan library showed me the Pridemage last turn... I know he has a Jace in hand from the first turn Thoughtseize.
So, what was my mistake? Well, let's look at The Plan:
Step 1) Get Pridemage + land with library (both known to be on top)
Step 2) Destroy Batterskull with Pridemage.
Step 3) Pulse Jace.
Step 4) Win via card selection/advantage.
Now let's look at The Plan I followed:
Step 1) Get Pridemage + land with library.
Step 2) Destroy Batterskull with Pulse.
Step 3) Stare at Jace as he starts to take over the game.
Step 4) Lose via card selection/advantage.
Yeah, Not cool. FOLLOW THE PLAN!
Game 2 – No mistakes meant no issues. I've got 2 losses to this deck, pre/post Misstep total (Not my Reanimator record... EPIC FORSHADOWING!) but to my own play errors cause me to lose the match. Let's just say that Choke is still amazing against this deck.
Game 3 – It starts off with him playing Mystic and going on a rampage with a Batterskull. After a little baiting, I destroy it and show why relying on one card isn't the way to go at it in this format. Why was it destroyed? Ever been Choked? We go to time. Him casting Wrath from 3 life, me swinging at him with a Batterskull w/SoFI on the field. I take it on turn 5 of turns. Ending life totals the turn before? 35-3.
3-1
My opponent and I share in pleasant conversation about the match. It got intense at the end (racing to win and not draw) but we joked the whole beginning of the match. He looked like the guy I scooped to in the standard portion earlier this year so we chatted it up in the beginning.
Funny thing, I switched to a blue deck prior to Misstep and switched back when Misstep forced Combo decks to have to deal with more, and more blue decks. More blue decks means less combo and more of my styled decks (which, when played correctly, prey upon blue decks like nobody’s business). More of my styled decks means that there will be more combo in the format.
Quick Rant - Blue is being pushed as one of the best colors in magic. I've even gone so far as to say yes at some points. The thing is:
Blue is the best color to gain card selection (brainstorm isn't card draw, it's a hand filter and still requires a shuffle effect to be completely useful).
Black is actually the best color for selecting what you want from a spell (ever played a real tutor?).
White has the best removal spell (Sword's only restriction is it can't hit shroud or protection).
Green has the best creatures (Arguing? Why do you think Goyf had a $100 price tag? Ever seen something like that from a blue creature that saw play and wasn't just a novelty?)
Red... Burn. That enough? Outside of Morphling, there's a burn spell for every situation… I think there’s one for Morphling too.
The best thing you can do is play something gold that's actually good. Spiritmonger was awesome back in the day because it got super huge and could dodge everything but swords. That included protection from colors. You just had to give it trample. Well, rant's over.
Rant Over.
Round 5 vs Edgar Flores, Esper Blade (See what I'm saying about names?! This is terrible)
Game 1 – I keep a hand that's got a Mystic and a Thoughtseize. I start an internal debate about just not Thoughtseizing on Turn 1 and letting him play the Mystic I know he has (I mean come on, this is Edgar Flores, He can play Caw-Blade...) but I decide that I'll just do it anyway (STICK TO THE PLAN!). I take his Jace (seeing a Thoughtseize) since I don't have a way to deal with it and he goes and gets his Batterskull. I draw an answer for the Batterskull so I decided to just let my B.Skull go away... Yup, I played my mystic. Remember my statement about playing correctly? This was not that. He counters my answer and takes over the game and I'm locked out from a Jace he draws shortly after.
Game 2 – I still misplay but their nowhere near the level I did before (Why am I telling people that I made mistakes during my report?!). We keep going and he's backpedaling super hard. I've killed his Batterskull, all of his Mystics and Snapcasters, removed his graveyard. And forced him to mill himself for 15 with Darkblast on Teeg and Bob's. I'm at 35 life, he's at 2. I FINALLY see a Choke from Sylvan Library. In fact, I see the second one as well... IRONY... and set it up so that if he Cliques me I'll still get a one. Of course he Cliques me... but he leaves me with it?! He's got 3 lands that will untap if he it resolves and 1 card in hand. So, does he play a 1 of Counterspell? NOPE! Choke resolves. Clique swings for 3. I see Karakas (Knight's didn't stay out long enough to tutor it). I bounce the clique and start thinking of win-con's. Somewhere in my 20 cards is a Bird of Paradise, and 2 Zenith to find it and there's a Pridemage on my side that makes it so he can't swing either... Deal! I can swing for 2 with the exalted bird if he's got a way to survive with the 10 cards in his library. 10 turns later, he's lost by milling.
With only 4 minutes on the clock we decide to draw.
3-1-1
It's really fun to win and you should always learn something from the loss. So, a Draw. Where does that leave you? Well, it's the best of all words. Think of it this way, you won, and lost. Needless to say though, I wasn't happy about it, and neither was my opponent. After a walk I realized something. From a tournament standpoint, this was the best thing possible for me. I was in the draw bracket. I wasn't going to play against Combo or Burn from the draw bracket so, I'm only at risk now if I play up, or down.
Round 6 vs Reanimator (OH BABY!)
So, before I start this, I'm proud to announce, I've NEVER lost a match to this deck, since the unbanning of Entomb. I was fine with this going off and doing things with Mystical Tutor. The only person who's every got me with this deck played it before entomb was banned and the deck played Phantom Nishoba … I do however have a draw against the deck. My very first match against it (with Mysticals) I ended up having to Deed Iona off of the table to take game 1.
Game 1 starts with me keeping. Him on draw. I've got a swords, Zenith and Liliana in hand. So, I'm keeping. I fetch and zenith for arbor so I can Liliana turn 2 (I'm dreaming of round 2). He plays Careful and discards... land and animate deck. The deals off. I know what I'm playing. I draw... KARAKAS!!!. DEAL. This game is locked. Arbor goes in for 7 before my opponent finally realizes that he can't be the the instrument of my aggression, Dryad Arbor. Why is the arbor doing so well? Every Legenday creature get's bounced and the non-legendary ones will get Edicted, thanks to the Liliana on the field at 7! He shows me his hand of Daze, Daze, Reanimate, Reanimate, Exume, Exume, Exume. All I can say is, “Sometimes probability happens.”
Game 2. I keep and hand with Knight, Bob, Fetch, Extirpate, Swords, Karakas, and... do I care about the rest? I keep up the swords, extirpate and karakas and make my first play on turn 3, Bob. I follow up with another one, He casts Show and Tell, I drop Knight into play and bounce his Jin in his second Main. The next turn I extirpate his Show and tells (Let's use the graveyard please) and go to town. Another Bob joins the fight and Knight stays back to make sure nothing happens (That bog's in my deck somewhere). I Thoughtseize him on the last turn and he shows me a perish... I decided that since he's at 4, the best thing I could do is take the force (Let's keep that swords up) and swing him down to 4. he scoops.
4-1-1
… Record vs Reanimator since Entomb's unbaning still X-0-1. My opponent was OK with the loss. No he wasn't thrilled, but we had fun. It's OK to have fun. I feel that's something that was lost when I last played. I forgot how to have fun losing. It became about winning and YES, that's nice. But what good is winning if you're not having fun along the way? We part ways and I go watch a couple buddies play. I'm pretty sure this is the round I convince Mark not to drop from the event (you're welcome) but I don't remember for sure. I'm sure it'll be in his report up on Quietspeculation.
Round 7 vs Delver America I don't know how to treat this deck's name (How bout them Cardinals?!).
My opponent Crushes me by rolling doubles... and then my number, 10. I swear, sometimes, you just can't beat the dice.
Game 1 we start off. He's got a Creaping Tarpit?! -My Thoughts-Wait, what just happened? OK. Must be the UGB lands variant -back to the game- Imaging my surprise when he hymns me next turn taking my Knight and Swords... Well, Goyf still lands. He starts trying to race me with Tarpit but falls about 8 points short.
Game 2 we my opponent plays first.... again with the Delvers. Is this what I have to look forward to? Well, either way. The delver is joined by a goyf and I'm overrun by the duo quickly. I did manage to sneak a sword into play so he knows I'm on the mystic plan.
Game 3 I decide that I'm going for it. That's right. 1st Turn, Bob. He looks, realizes that he's boarded out most of his forces and says, “This is bad.” Bob proceeds to draw me into everything a man could every wish to see in magic (since in real life this would only be a couple of things). Including Choke and waste to put my opponent back to 1 land against Bob a pair of knights that are too big to Ghastly Demise (Go Bojuka Bog).
Again, another opponent who was super amounts of fun. Turns out that we've known some of the same people. It's awesome to find that out when you get somewhere as you have something to talk about. The best part, is that I found out by incorrectly identifying the owner of a member of a BEAUTIFUL Polluted delta.
5-1-1
Round 8 Vs Jason Golliher, Red Thresh.
I'm sure I could tell you what happened but, thankfully someone else already did that. Thank You Glen.
So, instead, I'll tell you what you didn't get to see and what Glen couldn't tell you (since he wasn't in my head). 1st. I won the roll. I didn't win it because I rolled higher than him. I won the roll because he rolled 3-3, 4-4 6-6. TRIPPLE DOUBLES!!!! I WIN. I made a HUGE scene about it.
Game 1, I played Knight into the counterbalance because 3 has always been difficult for people to hit with their Counterbalance. I was Baiting a Force or him to use his only land to top and try to hit with Counterbalance. I wanted the Mystic because I couldn't beat a Jace if he was able to float 3. Mystic got Sword of Fire and Ice and would be able to vial it in and protect 1 of the would be two creatures on the field if Jace did land.
The Bog played before the Mystic was to make sure he had to put everything into either searching for stuff to shoot the Mystic or trying to find an answer for the now two Knights. Sometimes, additional costs can be a hindrance at times. That's why I cut the Nomad Stadium (reference Old ATL list, SCG ATL 20th place).
Game 2, Arbor was the lead land to be able to play the Bob in hand. I would've blocked the Delver to make sure I had some time. I didn't have another land though. I figured I'd save the life and draw the land instead of trying to land things that may not survive. The longer the game goes in that fashion, the worse this game gets for me. Either way,
Game 3, the Sylvan Library wasn't without fear of Daze. I wanted it to get Dazed. That would make sure the way was clear for my Goyf and also make it a little bit bigger (especially since it wouldn't survive the Bolt if I played it then). I didn't expect it to actually hit. That was just a bonus.
Playing Batterskull was to bring Goyf up to lethal with the Mystic in play. I knew he had the Grudge in hand as he showed it to flip his Delver. One of those old theories, “Sacrifice something small to gain something big.”
The search last fetch with Knight was because I there wasn't removal in the top 2 cards (that's library). There were 3 Swords, 3 Dismembers, 2 Choke, 2 Pulses, and 2 Liliana left in the deck. I figured fetching the bayou leaving me with the ability to cast them all was for what I wanted to do. If you're wondering why the Chokes mattered, he brainstormed and didn't find the Bolt. He had 1 card in hand that I knew wasn't the win (as it wasn't played) and had no open lands. Choke keeps all of his blue tapped; making it impossible to search fast enough to survive 2 attacks (As I'll end up killing the blocker prior to him getting past the two cards). I assumed he put a cantrip of some kind on top of his library (he told me it was a brainstorm after).
Before that Round I was in 10th place. The winner of the round got into t8. With my scoop, I ended up outside of t16 and landed 1 spot off of my predetermined location, 21st. Seriously, I think that was the biggest blow of the entire tournament. Not that I didn't t16, but that I'd become comfortable with the 20th spot in the legacy events I played in (SCG only). Denver and Atlanta had both been 20th place finishes and I missed by 1... on breakers. So, You won't see my list on Starcity, you'll have to look above.
If you want to know why I scooped, that's simple. He's a friend and wasn't qualified for North Carolina yet, I am. He didn't ask me if you're wondering. He was as shocked as everyone else to see me Maze my own Goyf.
Sometimes, you have to look past the things that you're used to doing to help people. I don't get to see him since he moved from Minnesota and I value my friends, even if I don't seem it sometimes. So, I'd rather spend some time with a buddy when I can than run a top 8 with only 1 bad match-up (never said I was humble).
Overall, I loved playing the deck. It's been a while since the list had a Goyf in it and I have to say, It's needed again. Before, you could do things and keep your plan slower but now, Delver makes you have to race sometimes. We'll see what happens from here.
If you're thinking of playing the deck, what's my advice? Take your time. This isn't a blue deck (aka. No training wheels). You can't just pick it up and have it work like a charm. You have to think. You have to learn to play not only this deck, but your opponent's deck. I don't think this is a starter deck by any means. This styled deck is like graduate school. When you're ready, give it a shot. It's tons of fun. Oh, one other piece of advice. Don't tilt. It's just a game... and you'll lose.
PS. No Props/Slops. I'd rather leave it at this since I'd kick myself for not asking if I could have the pin for my friend. Maybe Jason will read this and let me have it later ;)
----- Additional Fun Times -----
Monopoly Rolling
High Roll using 2x 6-Sided Dice.
Doubles Roll again.
Rolls are Cumulative - First Roll is totals 3, second roll totals 5. Your Roll now sits at 8. 3+5=8
Rolling tripple double means you lose.
Totaling 30 means you lose (Go to Jail spot on board).