Stifle
12-20-2011, 03:22 AM
Sean Connery was wrong. On 12/18/11, with some help from Lady Luck, I brought a knife to a gunfight and won.
The Knife:
Mainboard: 60
Spells: 41
4x Brainstorm
4x Force of Will
4x Hive Mind
4x Intuition
4x Pact of Negation
4x Ponder
4x Show and Tell
3x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3x Grim Monolith
3x Pact of the Titan
2x Slaughter Pact
2x Summoner's Pact
Lands: 19
5x Island
4x Ancient Tomb
4x Polluted Delta
2x City of Traitors
2x Flooded Strand
1x Underground Sea
1x Volcanic Island
Sideboard: 15
4x Leyline of Sanctity
4x Leyline of the Void
3x Firespout
3x Vendilion Clique
1x Misdirection
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intro:
It's been about five months since I last played Legacy in a Tournament setting and to say the landscape has changed is an understatement. Five months ago, when I top eighted with Hive Mind (http://www.mtgdecks.net/decks/view/18139), Mental Misstep was public enemy number one. Today's Los Angeles metagame can pretty much be summed up in two categories: Reanimator decks and non-Reanimator decks. Californians love getting their combo on but I can't remember when it was ever this bad. Hive Mind was a deck that I felt most comfortable piloting and taking those factors into consideration, sleeving up black Leylines seemed like the right call. Vendilion Clique is/was also probably the best card in the seventy-five. It forces your opponent to expend resources answering it or risk losing the next turn. The fact that opponents board out spot removal for Spell Pierce and it's kin is just icing on the cake.
Before I get into any details, I want to remind readers that I don't remember all the details so if any of my opponents are reading this and remembers something differently... please let me know.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 1: Bye
The stars aligned. Lil B got bitches. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LMHa9tnC2o) Kim Jong Il died. And I received a bye.
All is right with the world.
1-0-0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 2: Gabe w/ Reanimator
If there was any shred of doubt that I had coming in with being wrong in my expectations of the metagame, Gabe and the five other Reanimator decks I saw hinted that I may have a potential career as a Psychic.
Game 1: He mulls to 4. He seizes me. We play draw go until it's turn blah blah blah. I Show and Tell firing up my Emrakul on the morph. He puts a card down. It's Angel of Despair. I'm in despair after he blows up my Tentacruel and swings a few turns for the win.
In:
+4 Leyline of the Void
Out:
-1 Grim Monolith
-1 Intuition
-1 Summoner's Pact
-1 Slaughter Pact
Game 2: I'm on the play with the black Leyline in my opening seven. The hand is slow but the Leyline forces him to play on my terms so I keep. We play draw-sometimes land-go with much deliberation for what seems like an eternity until I finally drop the Cabal Ritual artifact and have a ton of mana at my beck and call. I hardcast Hive Mind. He sighs and Echoing Truths targetting my blue enchantment. I get a copy of the bounce spell and target Hive Mind with my copy to make his fizzle. I cast it again next turn and it resolves. He plays a spell that's irrelevant during my turn because I PON him for game since he can't pay for the trigger.
Time is called as we finish and the match ends at a tie.
1-0-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 3: Jacob (ruckus) w/ Maverick
I would have been a lot happier if I played against this deck with the pilot being anyone other than Jacob because he is a skilled pilot with this non-combo, creature attacking monstrosity.
Game 1: I have the Turn 2 or 3 kill.
In:
+3 Vendilion Clique
Out:
-2 Summoner's Pact
-1 Grim Monolith
Game 2: I keep a super slow hand and he attritions me out with his Chokes and Ethersworn Canonist. Knight hitting for a kazillion doesn't help either.
Game 3: Pretty much a rehash of Game 2 except I'm dry on mana.
Someone should have cried me a river. I lost to what was arguably my best matchup. And the Cliques obviously should not have gone in on this match-up.
1-1-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 4: Kevin Long w/ Bantblade
Kevin's a really cool dude not just because he's a judge or we share the same initials but he also happens to be one of the nicest guy I've ever met while playing Magic.
Game 1: Cool beans and shit happens. I get there with the Collective Consciousness and a few of his zero mana buddies.
In:
+3 Vendilion Clique
Out:
-2 Summoner's Pact
-1 Grim Monolith
Game 2: I play lands, damage myself with Ancient Tombs, get things countered and lose to creatures. No bueno.
Game 3: We exchange lands, spells and board development until we hit a crescendo in our epic jam. He has Vendilion Clique on the board that snagged a Hive Mind alongside with a Pikula banning my Show and Tell. He also has the untapped lands to re-cast a Clique with Karakas in play. During the end of my draw phase, he decides to re-cast his clique and I Brainstorm in response. Before that brainstorm, I had a few lands, 2 Show and Tells and pacts of the Grixis variety in hand. I draw into another game-winning enchantment, a Slaughter Pact and something irrelevant. I put the black pact 2 cards deep, and hide the Hive Mind up on top. He decides to take nothing with the Clique. The next turn, he swings with the faerie and decides to cast his Knight of the Reliquary. I draw, cast the zero mana Dark Banishing on his Pikula, give a 3 mana speech about it and proceed to win the game. After the game I point out that if he didn't cast the Knight and kept Clique-ing my hand, he would have won. But it's something he already knew and probably realized after making the play.
2-1-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 5: Andrew w/ UR Delver
Game 1: He burns. He counters. He kills me with his flying nacatls.
In:
+3 Vendilion Clique
+1 Misdirection
Out:
-2 Pact of the Titan
-1 Grim Monolith
-1 Intuition
Game 2: He burns. He counters. He takes me down to nine before I misdirect his flashbacked Strike of Thunder to his flashed Mage before I kill him with Cthulu reincarnate. Sorry Tiago.
Game 3: He burns. He counters. He takes me down to five and has the win the next turn but I am able to prevail with a well-timed one-two punch consisting of Hive Mind/Slaughter Pact.
3-1-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quarterfinals: Mark w/ Bantblade
Game 1: I drop lands until I'm confident a Show and Tell will resolve. I drop my Squidward morphed and he either puts a land or a creature down. It doesn't matter because he hardcasts Jace which I don't have the Force of Will for. He bounces my 15/15 and swings with whatever is on the board. We both take a few turns sculpting our hand until he beats me down to 9 life. I fire up a 3 mana presentation which puts into play my six mana enchantment. We make a few pacts and he has to pay the price before I do.
In:
+3 Vendilion Clique
+1 Misdirection
Out:
-2 Summoner's Pact
-1 Intuition
-1 Grim Monolith
Game 2: My notes say that we're both at twenty with a star below my life total. It also says that while I mulled once, my opponent mulled twice and I was on the draw meaning that I probably kept a fast hand and won very quickly.
4-1-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Semifinals: David w/ Merfolk
The four of us decided to call it a day and we converted the top 4 prizes into Cash/Store credit and split it evenly amongst ourselves.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afterthoughts:
Despite my luck in the first round today, there are misconceptions that Hive Mind is outdated tech and not to be taken as seriously as before. Maybe Reanimator is more abundant because of Graveborn. Maybe certain pilots didn't know that decks with Intuition actually requires thought upon casting. Maybe there's too many bad players who don't know how to navigate through blue decks. The hope is that these mistaken notions will change over time.
* A huge thank you to MTG Deals for hosting an awesome event. (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?22768-MTGDeals-Players-Appreciation-Legacy-tournament-Sunday-12-18-2011.)
* Thanks to all my opponents for being courteous and friendly.
* Congrats goes out to all those who made Top 8.
* Shout out to my buddy Todd who's played his last Legacy tournament in the U.S. for a while. We'll miss you but have fun overseas!
Putting Torrance & South Bay on the map!
Until next time.
The Knife:
Mainboard: 60
Spells: 41
4x Brainstorm
4x Force of Will
4x Hive Mind
4x Intuition
4x Pact of Negation
4x Ponder
4x Show and Tell
3x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3x Grim Monolith
3x Pact of the Titan
2x Slaughter Pact
2x Summoner's Pact
Lands: 19
5x Island
4x Ancient Tomb
4x Polluted Delta
2x City of Traitors
2x Flooded Strand
1x Underground Sea
1x Volcanic Island
Sideboard: 15
4x Leyline of Sanctity
4x Leyline of the Void
3x Firespout
3x Vendilion Clique
1x Misdirection
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intro:
It's been about five months since I last played Legacy in a Tournament setting and to say the landscape has changed is an understatement. Five months ago, when I top eighted with Hive Mind (http://www.mtgdecks.net/decks/view/18139), Mental Misstep was public enemy number one. Today's Los Angeles metagame can pretty much be summed up in two categories: Reanimator decks and non-Reanimator decks. Californians love getting their combo on but I can't remember when it was ever this bad. Hive Mind was a deck that I felt most comfortable piloting and taking those factors into consideration, sleeving up black Leylines seemed like the right call. Vendilion Clique is/was also probably the best card in the seventy-five. It forces your opponent to expend resources answering it or risk losing the next turn. The fact that opponents board out spot removal for Spell Pierce and it's kin is just icing on the cake.
Before I get into any details, I want to remind readers that I don't remember all the details so if any of my opponents are reading this and remembers something differently... please let me know.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 1: Bye
The stars aligned. Lil B got bitches. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LMHa9tnC2o) Kim Jong Il died. And I received a bye.
All is right with the world.
1-0-0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 2: Gabe w/ Reanimator
If there was any shred of doubt that I had coming in with being wrong in my expectations of the metagame, Gabe and the five other Reanimator decks I saw hinted that I may have a potential career as a Psychic.
Game 1: He mulls to 4. He seizes me. We play draw go until it's turn blah blah blah. I Show and Tell firing up my Emrakul on the morph. He puts a card down. It's Angel of Despair. I'm in despair after he blows up my Tentacruel and swings a few turns for the win.
In:
+4 Leyline of the Void
Out:
-1 Grim Monolith
-1 Intuition
-1 Summoner's Pact
-1 Slaughter Pact
Game 2: I'm on the play with the black Leyline in my opening seven. The hand is slow but the Leyline forces him to play on my terms so I keep. We play draw-sometimes land-go with much deliberation for what seems like an eternity until I finally drop the Cabal Ritual artifact and have a ton of mana at my beck and call. I hardcast Hive Mind. He sighs and Echoing Truths targetting my blue enchantment. I get a copy of the bounce spell and target Hive Mind with my copy to make his fizzle. I cast it again next turn and it resolves. He plays a spell that's irrelevant during my turn because I PON him for game since he can't pay for the trigger.
Time is called as we finish and the match ends at a tie.
1-0-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 3: Jacob (ruckus) w/ Maverick
I would have been a lot happier if I played against this deck with the pilot being anyone other than Jacob because he is a skilled pilot with this non-combo, creature attacking monstrosity.
Game 1: I have the Turn 2 or 3 kill.
In:
+3 Vendilion Clique
Out:
-2 Summoner's Pact
-1 Grim Monolith
Game 2: I keep a super slow hand and he attritions me out with his Chokes and Ethersworn Canonist. Knight hitting for a kazillion doesn't help either.
Game 3: Pretty much a rehash of Game 2 except I'm dry on mana.
Someone should have cried me a river. I lost to what was arguably my best matchup. And the Cliques obviously should not have gone in on this match-up.
1-1-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 4: Kevin Long w/ Bantblade
Kevin's a really cool dude not just because he's a judge or we share the same initials but he also happens to be one of the nicest guy I've ever met while playing Magic.
Game 1: Cool beans and shit happens. I get there with the Collective Consciousness and a few of his zero mana buddies.
In:
+3 Vendilion Clique
Out:
-2 Summoner's Pact
-1 Grim Monolith
Game 2: I play lands, damage myself with Ancient Tombs, get things countered and lose to creatures. No bueno.
Game 3: We exchange lands, spells and board development until we hit a crescendo in our epic jam. He has Vendilion Clique on the board that snagged a Hive Mind alongside with a Pikula banning my Show and Tell. He also has the untapped lands to re-cast a Clique with Karakas in play. During the end of my draw phase, he decides to re-cast his clique and I Brainstorm in response. Before that brainstorm, I had a few lands, 2 Show and Tells and pacts of the Grixis variety in hand. I draw into another game-winning enchantment, a Slaughter Pact and something irrelevant. I put the black pact 2 cards deep, and hide the Hive Mind up on top. He decides to take nothing with the Clique. The next turn, he swings with the faerie and decides to cast his Knight of the Reliquary. I draw, cast the zero mana Dark Banishing on his Pikula, give a 3 mana speech about it and proceed to win the game. After the game I point out that if he didn't cast the Knight and kept Clique-ing my hand, he would have won. But it's something he already knew and probably realized after making the play.
2-1-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 5: Andrew w/ UR Delver
Game 1: He burns. He counters. He kills me with his flying nacatls.
In:
+3 Vendilion Clique
+1 Misdirection
Out:
-2 Pact of the Titan
-1 Grim Monolith
-1 Intuition
Game 2: He burns. He counters. He takes me down to nine before I misdirect his flashbacked Strike of Thunder to his flashed Mage before I kill him with Cthulu reincarnate. Sorry Tiago.
Game 3: He burns. He counters. He takes me down to five and has the win the next turn but I am able to prevail with a well-timed one-two punch consisting of Hive Mind/Slaughter Pact.
3-1-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quarterfinals: Mark w/ Bantblade
Game 1: I drop lands until I'm confident a Show and Tell will resolve. I drop my Squidward morphed and he either puts a land or a creature down. It doesn't matter because he hardcasts Jace which I don't have the Force of Will for. He bounces my 15/15 and swings with whatever is on the board. We both take a few turns sculpting our hand until he beats me down to 9 life. I fire up a 3 mana presentation which puts into play my six mana enchantment. We make a few pacts and he has to pay the price before I do.
In:
+3 Vendilion Clique
+1 Misdirection
Out:
-2 Summoner's Pact
-1 Intuition
-1 Grim Monolith
Game 2: My notes say that we're both at twenty with a star below my life total. It also says that while I mulled once, my opponent mulled twice and I was on the draw meaning that I probably kept a fast hand and won very quickly.
4-1-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Semifinals: David w/ Merfolk
The four of us decided to call it a day and we converted the top 4 prizes into Cash/Store credit and split it evenly amongst ourselves.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afterthoughts:
Despite my luck in the first round today, there are misconceptions that Hive Mind is outdated tech and not to be taken as seriously as before. Maybe Reanimator is more abundant because of Graveborn. Maybe certain pilots didn't know that decks with Intuition actually requires thought upon casting. Maybe there's too many bad players who don't know how to navigate through blue decks. The hope is that these mistaken notions will change over time.
* A huge thank you to MTG Deals for hosting an awesome event. (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?22768-MTGDeals-Players-Appreciation-Legacy-tournament-Sunday-12-18-2011.)
* Thanks to all my opponents for being courteous and friendly.
* Congrats goes out to all those who made Top 8.
* Shout out to my buddy Todd who's played his last Legacy tournament in the U.S. for a while. We'll miss you but have fun overseas!
Putting Torrance & South Bay on the map!
Until next time.