Ozymandias
02-13-2012, 02:57 PM
The basic philosophy of this deck is that defense wins games. It is
implemented through heavy white defense (StP and Disenchant, as well as
Divine Offering, Dust to Dust, and Moat) and countermagic (at least 6
Mana Drain/Counterspells). Its primary strategy is to achieve card
superiority through discard, but using Disrupting Sceptres (and one
Mindtwist), and through the use of card-drawing means (Jayemdae Tomes,
Library of Alexandria, Ancestral Recall, Timetwister) as well as recyclers
(Regrowth & Recall). The ultimate aim is to achieve a lock by stripping
the opponent of all useful cards, destroying all dangerous permanents, then
having a Disrupting Sceptre in play, with a couple of Counterspells in
hand. It then lays down one of two Serras and quickly reduces the opponent
to dust.
-Rob Hahn: “Schools of Magic: The Weissman School”
It’s surprising how little has changed since 1995. The Weissman School, as it is known by the true veterans of the game, is a way of trying to win by not losing. By continual defensive play and incremental bits of card advantage, the Weissman deck will eventually grind the opponent’s offensive capability down to a nub, at which point winning is more a formality than a challenge. Of course, the hard part is the “continual defensive play.” On the Flores role spectrum, the Weissman deck is always the “control”—the nearly unbeatable long game of the deck means that it is always just trying to make sure it lives as long as possible. I would like to say that these strategic considerations are why I chose the deck I did for the Knight-Ware Indianapolis GPT, but the truth is I just like pimp cards way too much, Between foil Swords to Plowshares, Wastelands (MPR, thank you very much) and Standstill, alongside various other hits like the seasonal playset of Mishra’s Factories and the FBB French Tundra, over half of my deck was spoken for by the time I decided to sleeve it up for the tournament. After all, what’s the fun of getting pimp cards if you never play them? Thus, I present the decklist:
The Card Manipulation and Advantage Suite:
4 Brainstorm
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Standstill
1 Crucible of Worlds
The Countermagic
4 Force of Will
2 Spell Snare
3 Counterbalance
2 Counterspell
The Removal:
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Humility
The Ostensible Win Conditions
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
The Mana (and actual win condition, most of the time)
4 Mishra’s Factory
4 Wasteland
1 Academy Ruins
1 Karakas
1 Tolaria West
1 Tropical Island
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
2 Snow-Covered Island
2 Plains
3 Tundra
The Sideboard
3 Vendilion Clique
1 Decree of Justice
2 Enlightened Tutor
1 Sundial of the Infinite
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Batterskull
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Porphyry Nodes
The basic plan of this deck, as I mentioned, is to play defense until the opponent is exhausted and then mop the game up. The actual plan of this deck is just to show off nice shinies. The actual deck usage will become clear as the tourney progresses.
At noon, I pick Pat up from his home in Palms, and we head up the freeway to Knight-Ware, discussing all kinds of cool things I forgot on the way. When I get to the tournament, I had Jacob the Loam-pox deck we brewed up, and I let Yuri borrow Belcher, before proceeding to write down my decklist. I flash Pat my awesome 6th edition Circle of Protection: Red and put in back down quickly—a decision that will cost me later in the tournament. Anyway, I wrote up my decklist and prepare to start round 1.
Round 1: Tony DeVeyra, Bant Control.
Tony has done very well at the last two local SCG events with Aggro Loam, so I am prepared for a rather tough match. However, it turns out he isn’t playing the deck I think he is, and is actually on a rather slow Loam control variant. I am able to resolve a Standstill with little trouble, neutralize his Knights with Humility, and win a counter war over his Jace. He scoops before I go about winning the game. I believe I board out 2 spell snare for Tormod’s Crypt and Decree of Justice.
Game 2 plays out differently than game 1. He is able to get rid of my Mishra’s Factory by combining Wasteland and Surgical Extraction, but he sinks in his chair when he sees the Decree of Justice I am sandbagging. He manages to break the Crucible/Ruins connection, but I manage to hit him with Crypt, and eventually win the game with Soldier Tokens. After the match, he laments keeping a bad hand in a bad matchup, and we play a bit more. Afterwards, Kevin, the judge, comes over to tell me I registered a 14-card sideboard, and will be receiving a game loss. (I think this is fine, having won 2-0, but I didn’t realize what would really happen.) Luckily, it was the last card in my deckbox, and Kevin pencils it in for me. I also realize my Plains are not snow-covered, and make a quick swap.
Round 2: Ryan, Goblins
I did not realize that my game loss for an illegal decklist would be applied this round, and so I was a bit chagrined. I keep a mediocre six that lacks an actual answer to a first turn lackey, but he can only playa matron. I do manage a factory and a swords, but we are both mana screwed, and when he manages to assemble a pair of lackeys and a piledriver, and I punt the factory right into Incinerator, I just lose. Well, that was a quick round 2. I go off to play Modern (turns out Affinity is pretty damn strong.) and drown my sorrows in whiskey. Soon enough, I go off to round 3.
Round 3 ??? with Burn
Game 1: I keep a pretty decent hand into his t1 suspend Rift Bolt, but screw things up by not playing Tolaria West before Tundra so I can make t2 counterbalance. I have to brainstorm to make a land drop and I foolishly force a PoP, letting Sulfuric Vortex come down and end me.
SB: -1 Standstill, -1 Jace, -1 Crucible, -1 Humility, +1 Cop: Red, +1 Batterskull, +2 E-tutor.
Game 2 I keep a fairly mediocre six, but I manage to pull out an EOT enlightened tutor for Circle of Protection: Red on turn 3, and I drop it while at 4 life I hide behind it for the rest of the game, resisting the urge to tap down for Batterskull, and he foolishly plays a vortex and gets roasted by it.
Game 3. This game was similar to game 2, except I had the Circle naturally on turn 2, and just rode it to victory, adding lock pieces on the way. Well. That was easy. Moving on to round 4.f
Round 4 versus Eugene with Geist-Blade.
Game 1: This game opens up slow, with his Stoneforge getting Plowed. He Spell Snares my Counterbalance turn 4, and I follow up with a Standstill, which he plays a Snapcaster in response to. Like a champ, I rip Mishra’s Factory, and he is forced to break it to plow it. Unfortunately, I brick on the Standstill, and he follows up the Snapcaster with a Geist of St. Traft. I drop a Jace and plow two Angel Tokens, Brainstorming madly and coming up with an Elspeth. But he’s got a Jitte, and things are looking bad. I have been wasting his lands to keep him off batterskull mana, and eventually drop Humility, and send a factory or two into the sacrificial maw, before realizing I am dumb and Karakasing Geist, which has been Humiliatd. The next turn, I finally Top into Engineered Explosives to go with my Academy Ruins on the board and take it home with Elspeth. He punted at one pint by not running batterskull out first main phase and letting me waste during combast. I punted by not wasting in upkeep.
Sideboarding: -4 Standstiil, +1 Seal of Cleansing, +1 Porphyry Nodes, +2 Enlightened Tutor.
Game 2: He has no answer to my turn 4 elspeth, and once I topdeck an engineered explosives to get rid of jitte, snapcaster, and stoneforge, things are looking up. He plays a batterskull to delay the inevitable, but I have Jace, ultimate Elspeth, and a Porphyry Nodes. Time is called, and he scoops.
Round 5 Versus Kevin Lee with Hive Mind:
Before the game starts, we negotiate a split since it’s win-and-in, and then we play.
He wins the roll and starts off with Ancient Tomb into Grim Monolith. I decide to waste the tomb. He goes Island, pass. I play a tundra into top, and though I miss my 3rd land drop, I make it a turn later. I know that he’s got the advantage unless I can get down a CB, so I try for one and it gets forced. I’m holding 2 forces and 2 blue cards, but I decide to let it through anyway, since he’s got enough mana not to worry about casting show and tell. The next turn, he punts it away on a counter war over Crucible. I cast it with waste in yard. He forces. I force back. He pacts the Force. I force his force again, so that when the dust clears, I end up with a crucible and he ends up with a pact debt. I follow that up by putting him below 5 mana with waste and he scoops.
I board out the EE, Swords, and 1 Spell Snare for Clique, Canonist, Tutor, and Sundial.
Game 2 I open up on Enlightened Tutor for Sundial, and he’s forced to go for the Vendilion Clique plan for the win. He almost gets there, too, but between Topping and shuffling, I find Karakas at 2 life. Not realizing how Sundial works, he runs a Clique into it, and Mishra’s Factory finishes him off a while later.
Round 6: ID versus undefeated Jacob Kory. I figure my breakers will be good enough, since I am 5th going in.
During this round, Pat does all of the 4-1s who drew a favor (especially me) and doesn’t scoop to the 3-1-1 player, eventually extracting a draw. Pat then proceeds to get the door prize. Pretty good move.
Quarterfinals.
When the top 8 is called, I turn in my deck, an Pat runs off to get food and more victory water, and I run off to go drink bourbon with Jacob Kory. When I get back, Pat and I come up with a board strategy for my matchup, and then I sit down at the table. I get by with a little help from my friends, and then I get in the time machine back to 2006 for my next matchup.
Ryan on Goblins
This is the same guy that mashed me in round 2. He asks if I’m out for revenge. No, I say; I’m just out to win the byes. I win the roll, and open on wasteland into top. He goes land, go. I run out another land and ship the turn. He drops wasteland and lackey and passes back. I fetch up Tundra (yes, into wasteland, but I wanted U and W) and plow it EOT. The next turn I top into a fetch, and brainstorm up a real doozy of a set of cards. He runs out a Taiga, followed by a Goblin Chieftain. I send that farming too, and then drop Crucible of worlds. He drops a lackey, and I leave it be, and I think I Force another Goblin, before going, on the next turn, waste taiga, replay waste, waste wasteland, plow lackey, cast standstill. M. M. Good. I keep fetching lands from the graveyard, while he draws nonlands when he’s eventually forced to break standstill, I counter all of his spells and go for Humility +Elspeth. He scoops.
Boarding is pretty a pretty dramatic shift: -4 Standstill, -3 Counterbalance, -2 Spell Snare, +3 Clique, +1 Canonist, +2 Tutor +1 Batterskull +1 Cop: Red +1 Porphyry nodes. Pat and I agreed that both CB and Standstill were bad plans versus goblins, and snare only hits Piledriver, so everything that’s more useful comes in.
Game 2 he mulls to 6 and tries the turn 1 lackey. I’m obviously not going to keep any hand that can’t beat that, so I plow it. His turn 2 is…another lackey. That’s okay, I have a Mishra’s Factory. He runs out Goblin Chieftain and declines swining. I drop turn 3 COP: Red and begin the slow march to victory. I blow an EE at 3, to get Chieftain and Matron, and two turns later, an EE at 1 to get rid of Vial and two Lackeys, and after than he has no real threats. Batterskull shows up and vigilances for 1 turn, but I tap out to swing with both factories and he gets a chance to Tin Street it. No matter. Vclique eventually takes it down in the air. Pat and I go into another huddle before I go off to face Weston.
Semifinals: Weston Brown, Reanimator.
I win the die roll. Game one is over really quickly, as I lead off with top, he casts careful study. Turn 2 he Animate Deads Iona and dazes my counterspell. I’m so focused in trying to find Karakas or Jace that I miss that the EE I had on the top of my deck could just blow up the Animate Dead. He kills me in three swings.
Sideboarding: -2 Engineered Explosives, -1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, -1 Mishra’s Factory, -1 Academy Ruins, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Standstill +3 Vendilion Clique, +1 Enlightened Tutor, +1 Grafdigger’s Cage, +1 Wheel of Sun and Moon, +1 Tormod’s Crypt.
Game 2: I mull to 6, and keep 4 lands (one is tolaria west, one is wasteland), swords, spell snare. I start off with fetch a tundra, go. He starts off with thoughtseize and takes the swords. I draw Humility off the top, waste his land, pass. He follows up with nothing, go. Nice. I draw Swords and lay a land. He lays an island and passes. I draw Swords, drop another Tundra, transmute, and think about what I want with Tolaria West. The obvious choices are Karakas or Tormod’s Crypt. I decide that Karakas is a better choice since I get to get up to Humility mana, and he might have stuff that isn’t needle as his counter-hate. He EOT brainstorms, and the next turn lays a fetch. I draw a Spell Snare, lay Karakas, and decide not to ram Humility into a Daze. On the next turn, he finds another land, to entomb and then reanimate Inkwell leviathan. I draw Mishra’s Factory, cast humility, and then get my plow on Inkwell Dispelled. He consults his sideboard and then scoops. At this point I am really glad I asked for decklists not to be made available to the top 8.
Game 3: I open up on a very solid hand of 2x Counterbalance, Brainstorm, Force, Island, Fetchland, Mishra’s. He tries to Careful Study t1. I force it, pitching CB. I run out the island, and when he tries for the thoughtseize, I hide Counterbalance on top, and put the Enlightened tutor I draw beneath it. I play t2 counterbalance. He passes. I draw E.Tutor He passes. I eot Tutor for Top. During my upkeep, he bounces counterbalance with echoing truth, and for a reason I can’t recall I only play counterbalance, leaving Top in hand. He needles top. I topdeck a Standstill, and between all the gas from Standstill, a blind flip from CB hitting entomb, and Factory, I get there.
FInals I split the finals with Vidanto Wijaya: I get the byes, and he gets firs pick of each set of duals. I end up with and underground sea after my split with Kevin, and now I just need a plane ticket to Indy. See you next week.
Props:
Pat, for being an all-around great guy and supplying me with beer through the top 8.
My opponents for being very sportsmanlike.
Brian Weissman for inventing the Weissman school.
Maindeck humility for winning two otherwise near-lost games.
My 6th edition cop:red for winning two matches by itself.
Slops:
None.
Bonus Section Alternative Report titles:
If You Give a Korean Whiskey
Landstill: Not just for Vintage
It all comes of liking foils too much.
That’s about it. Sorry about the shaky memory and lack of wit in the report. I wanted to get it up as soon as possible, and in my defense, I was drinking through the whole tourney. State memory baby. If anyone has questions or comments, let me know.
implemented through heavy white defense (StP and Disenchant, as well as
Divine Offering, Dust to Dust, and Moat) and countermagic (at least 6
Mana Drain/Counterspells). Its primary strategy is to achieve card
superiority through discard, but using Disrupting Sceptres (and one
Mindtwist), and through the use of card-drawing means (Jayemdae Tomes,
Library of Alexandria, Ancestral Recall, Timetwister) as well as recyclers
(Regrowth & Recall). The ultimate aim is to achieve a lock by stripping
the opponent of all useful cards, destroying all dangerous permanents, then
having a Disrupting Sceptre in play, with a couple of Counterspells in
hand. It then lays down one of two Serras and quickly reduces the opponent
to dust.
-Rob Hahn: “Schools of Magic: The Weissman School”
It’s surprising how little has changed since 1995. The Weissman School, as it is known by the true veterans of the game, is a way of trying to win by not losing. By continual defensive play and incremental bits of card advantage, the Weissman deck will eventually grind the opponent’s offensive capability down to a nub, at which point winning is more a formality than a challenge. Of course, the hard part is the “continual defensive play.” On the Flores role spectrum, the Weissman deck is always the “control”—the nearly unbeatable long game of the deck means that it is always just trying to make sure it lives as long as possible. I would like to say that these strategic considerations are why I chose the deck I did for the Knight-Ware Indianapolis GPT, but the truth is I just like pimp cards way too much, Between foil Swords to Plowshares, Wastelands (MPR, thank you very much) and Standstill, alongside various other hits like the seasonal playset of Mishra’s Factories and the FBB French Tundra, over half of my deck was spoken for by the time I decided to sleeve it up for the tournament. After all, what’s the fun of getting pimp cards if you never play them? Thus, I present the decklist:
The Card Manipulation and Advantage Suite:
4 Brainstorm
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Standstill
1 Crucible of Worlds
The Countermagic
4 Force of Will
2 Spell Snare
3 Counterbalance
2 Counterspell
The Removal:
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Humility
The Ostensible Win Conditions
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
The Mana (and actual win condition, most of the time)
4 Mishra’s Factory
4 Wasteland
1 Academy Ruins
1 Karakas
1 Tolaria West
1 Tropical Island
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
2 Snow-Covered Island
2 Plains
3 Tundra
The Sideboard
3 Vendilion Clique
1 Decree of Justice
2 Enlightened Tutor
1 Sundial of the Infinite
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Batterskull
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Porphyry Nodes
The basic plan of this deck, as I mentioned, is to play defense until the opponent is exhausted and then mop the game up. The actual plan of this deck is just to show off nice shinies. The actual deck usage will become clear as the tourney progresses.
At noon, I pick Pat up from his home in Palms, and we head up the freeway to Knight-Ware, discussing all kinds of cool things I forgot on the way. When I get to the tournament, I had Jacob the Loam-pox deck we brewed up, and I let Yuri borrow Belcher, before proceeding to write down my decklist. I flash Pat my awesome 6th edition Circle of Protection: Red and put in back down quickly—a decision that will cost me later in the tournament. Anyway, I wrote up my decklist and prepare to start round 1.
Round 1: Tony DeVeyra, Bant Control.
Tony has done very well at the last two local SCG events with Aggro Loam, so I am prepared for a rather tough match. However, it turns out he isn’t playing the deck I think he is, and is actually on a rather slow Loam control variant. I am able to resolve a Standstill with little trouble, neutralize his Knights with Humility, and win a counter war over his Jace. He scoops before I go about winning the game. I believe I board out 2 spell snare for Tormod’s Crypt and Decree of Justice.
Game 2 plays out differently than game 1. He is able to get rid of my Mishra’s Factory by combining Wasteland and Surgical Extraction, but he sinks in his chair when he sees the Decree of Justice I am sandbagging. He manages to break the Crucible/Ruins connection, but I manage to hit him with Crypt, and eventually win the game with Soldier Tokens. After the match, he laments keeping a bad hand in a bad matchup, and we play a bit more. Afterwards, Kevin, the judge, comes over to tell me I registered a 14-card sideboard, and will be receiving a game loss. (I think this is fine, having won 2-0, but I didn’t realize what would really happen.) Luckily, it was the last card in my deckbox, and Kevin pencils it in for me. I also realize my Plains are not snow-covered, and make a quick swap.
Round 2: Ryan, Goblins
I did not realize that my game loss for an illegal decklist would be applied this round, and so I was a bit chagrined. I keep a mediocre six that lacks an actual answer to a first turn lackey, but he can only playa matron. I do manage a factory and a swords, but we are both mana screwed, and when he manages to assemble a pair of lackeys and a piledriver, and I punt the factory right into Incinerator, I just lose. Well, that was a quick round 2. I go off to play Modern (turns out Affinity is pretty damn strong.) and drown my sorrows in whiskey. Soon enough, I go off to round 3.
Round 3 ??? with Burn
Game 1: I keep a pretty decent hand into his t1 suspend Rift Bolt, but screw things up by not playing Tolaria West before Tundra so I can make t2 counterbalance. I have to brainstorm to make a land drop and I foolishly force a PoP, letting Sulfuric Vortex come down and end me.
SB: -1 Standstill, -1 Jace, -1 Crucible, -1 Humility, +1 Cop: Red, +1 Batterskull, +2 E-tutor.
Game 2 I keep a fairly mediocre six, but I manage to pull out an EOT enlightened tutor for Circle of Protection: Red on turn 3, and I drop it while at 4 life I hide behind it for the rest of the game, resisting the urge to tap down for Batterskull, and he foolishly plays a vortex and gets roasted by it.
Game 3. This game was similar to game 2, except I had the Circle naturally on turn 2, and just rode it to victory, adding lock pieces on the way. Well. That was easy. Moving on to round 4.f
Round 4 versus Eugene with Geist-Blade.
Game 1: This game opens up slow, with his Stoneforge getting Plowed. He Spell Snares my Counterbalance turn 4, and I follow up with a Standstill, which he plays a Snapcaster in response to. Like a champ, I rip Mishra’s Factory, and he is forced to break it to plow it. Unfortunately, I brick on the Standstill, and he follows up the Snapcaster with a Geist of St. Traft. I drop a Jace and plow two Angel Tokens, Brainstorming madly and coming up with an Elspeth. But he’s got a Jitte, and things are looking bad. I have been wasting his lands to keep him off batterskull mana, and eventually drop Humility, and send a factory or two into the sacrificial maw, before realizing I am dumb and Karakasing Geist, which has been Humiliatd. The next turn, I finally Top into Engineered Explosives to go with my Academy Ruins on the board and take it home with Elspeth. He punted at one pint by not running batterskull out first main phase and letting me waste during combast. I punted by not wasting in upkeep.
Sideboarding: -4 Standstiil, +1 Seal of Cleansing, +1 Porphyry Nodes, +2 Enlightened Tutor.
Game 2: He has no answer to my turn 4 elspeth, and once I topdeck an engineered explosives to get rid of jitte, snapcaster, and stoneforge, things are looking up. He plays a batterskull to delay the inevitable, but I have Jace, ultimate Elspeth, and a Porphyry Nodes. Time is called, and he scoops.
Round 5 Versus Kevin Lee with Hive Mind:
Before the game starts, we negotiate a split since it’s win-and-in, and then we play.
He wins the roll and starts off with Ancient Tomb into Grim Monolith. I decide to waste the tomb. He goes Island, pass. I play a tundra into top, and though I miss my 3rd land drop, I make it a turn later. I know that he’s got the advantage unless I can get down a CB, so I try for one and it gets forced. I’m holding 2 forces and 2 blue cards, but I decide to let it through anyway, since he’s got enough mana not to worry about casting show and tell. The next turn, he punts it away on a counter war over Crucible. I cast it with waste in yard. He forces. I force back. He pacts the Force. I force his force again, so that when the dust clears, I end up with a crucible and he ends up with a pact debt. I follow that up by putting him below 5 mana with waste and he scoops.
I board out the EE, Swords, and 1 Spell Snare for Clique, Canonist, Tutor, and Sundial.
Game 2 I open up on Enlightened Tutor for Sundial, and he’s forced to go for the Vendilion Clique plan for the win. He almost gets there, too, but between Topping and shuffling, I find Karakas at 2 life. Not realizing how Sundial works, he runs a Clique into it, and Mishra’s Factory finishes him off a while later.
Round 6: ID versus undefeated Jacob Kory. I figure my breakers will be good enough, since I am 5th going in.
During this round, Pat does all of the 4-1s who drew a favor (especially me) and doesn’t scoop to the 3-1-1 player, eventually extracting a draw. Pat then proceeds to get the door prize. Pretty good move.
Quarterfinals.
When the top 8 is called, I turn in my deck, an Pat runs off to get food and more victory water, and I run off to go drink bourbon with Jacob Kory. When I get back, Pat and I come up with a board strategy for my matchup, and then I sit down at the table. I get by with a little help from my friends, and then I get in the time machine back to 2006 for my next matchup.
Ryan on Goblins
This is the same guy that mashed me in round 2. He asks if I’m out for revenge. No, I say; I’m just out to win the byes. I win the roll, and open on wasteland into top. He goes land, go. I run out another land and ship the turn. He drops wasteland and lackey and passes back. I fetch up Tundra (yes, into wasteland, but I wanted U and W) and plow it EOT. The next turn I top into a fetch, and brainstorm up a real doozy of a set of cards. He runs out a Taiga, followed by a Goblin Chieftain. I send that farming too, and then drop Crucible of worlds. He drops a lackey, and I leave it be, and I think I Force another Goblin, before going, on the next turn, waste taiga, replay waste, waste wasteland, plow lackey, cast standstill. M. M. Good. I keep fetching lands from the graveyard, while he draws nonlands when he’s eventually forced to break standstill, I counter all of his spells and go for Humility +Elspeth. He scoops.
Boarding is pretty a pretty dramatic shift: -4 Standstill, -3 Counterbalance, -2 Spell Snare, +3 Clique, +1 Canonist, +2 Tutor +1 Batterskull +1 Cop: Red +1 Porphyry nodes. Pat and I agreed that both CB and Standstill were bad plans versus goblins, and snare only hits Piledriver, so everything that’s more useful comes in.
Game 2 he mulls to 6 and tries the turn 1 lackey. I’m obviously not going to keep any hand that can’t beat that, so I plow it. His turn 2 is…another lackey. That’s okay, I have a Mishra’s Factory. He runs out Goblin Chieftain and declines swining. I drop turn 3 COP: Red and begin the slow march to victory. I blow an EE at 3, to get Chieftain and Matron, and two turns later, an EE at 1 to get rid of Vial and two Lackeys, and after than he has no real threats. Batterskull shows up and vigilances for 1 turn, but I tap out to swing with both factories and he gets a chance to Tin Street it. No matter. Vclique eventually takes it down in the air. Pat and I go into another huddle before I go off to face Weston.
Semifinals: Weston Brown, Reanimator.
I win the die roll. Game one is over really quickly, as I lead off with top, he casts careful study. Turn 2 he Animate Deads Iona and dazes my counterspell. I’m so focused in trying to find Karakas or Jace that I miss that the EE I had on the top of my deck could just blow up the Animate Dead. He kills me in three swings.
Sideboarding: -2 Engineered Explosives, -1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, -1 Mishra’s Factory, -1 Academy Ruins, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Standstill +3 Vendilion Clique, +1 Enlightened Tutor, +1 Grafdigger’s Cage, +1 Wheel of Sun and Moon, +1 Tormod’s Crypt.
Game 2: I mull to 6, and keep 4 lands (one is tolaria west, one is wasteland), swords, spell snare. I start off with fetch a tundra, go. He starts off with thoughtseize and takes the swords. I draw Humility off the top, waste his land, pass. He follows up with nothing, go. Nice. I draw Swords and lay a land. He lays an island and passes. I draw Swords, drop another Tundra, transmute, and think about what I want with Tolaria West. The obvious choices are Karakas or Tormod’s Crypt. I decide that Karakas is a better choice since I get to get up to Humility mana, and he might have stuff that isn’t needle as his counter-hate. He EOT brainstorms, and the next turn lays a fetch. I draw a Spell Snare, lay Karakas, and decide not to ram Humility into a Daze. On the next turn, he finds another land, to entomb and then reanimate Inkwell leviathan. I draw Mishra’s Factory, cast humility, and then get my plow on Inkwell Dispelled. He consults his sideboard and then scoops. At this point I am really glad I asked for decklists not to be made available to the top 8.
Game 3: I open up on a very solid hand of 2x Counterbalance, Brainstorm, Force, Island, Fetchland, Mishra’s. He tries to Careful Study t1. I force it, pitching CB. I run out the island, and when he tries for the thoughtseize, I hide Counterbalance on top, and put the Enlightened tutor I draw beneath it. I play t2 counterbalance. He passes. I draw E.Tutor He passes. I eot Tutor for Top. During my upkeep, he bounces counterbalance with echoing truth, and for a reason I can’t recall I only play counterbalance, leaving Top in hand. He needles top. I topdeck a Standstill, and between all the gas from Standstill, a blind flip from CB hitting entomb, and Factory, I get there.
FInals I split the finals with Vidanto Wijaya: I get the byes, and he gets firs pick of each set of duals. I end up with and underground sea after my split with Kevin, and now I just need a plane ticket to Indy. See you next week.
Props:
Pat, for being an all-around great guy and supplying me with beer through the top 8.
My opponents for being very sportsmanlike.
Brian Weissman for inventing the Weissman school.
Maindeck humility for winning two otherwise near-lost games.
My 6th edition cop:red for winning two matches by itself.
Slops:
None.
Bonus Section Alternative Report titles:
If You Give a Korean Whiskey
Landstill: Not just for Vintage
It all comes of liking foils too much.
That’s about it. Sorry about the shaky memory and lack of wit in the report. I wanted to get it up as soon as possible, and in my defense, I was drinking through the whole tourney. State memory baby. If anyone has questions or comments, let me know.