Fry
03-12-2012, 05:11 PM
Unfortunately since I despise writing I didn't keep note of how I did at GP Indy, but here's what I remember to the best of my ability, don't remember a whole lot of day 1 since I kept no notes and with playing nine rounds, it gets rather tiresome, especially when running on about 4 hours of sleep...
I did the first grinder on Friday with my D&T's list (Will share at bottom of post) and made it to the finals where I lose to Charbelcher. He won the die roll and got 14 gobs turn one, and game to he had to top deck the belcher to win the game which he did, but then game three he would have gone first again and would likely won that game, so I am not disappointed with my finish of second with 24 packs...
I had no byes for the Grand Prix itself, mainly because I don't have much time to play in a lot of events and STD isn't my favorite format and just made a deck for it a month ago... I end up having to play round one... by the end of round 5 my record was 3-1-1... I have to win the next four rounds to make it to day 2... I win the first 3 and in the final round something highly unfortunate happens... for my opponent, I win the final round against the same player who gave a friend of mine his first loss. By some miracle I make it to day 2 with only having lost 5 games in 9 rounds of playing.
lost one round to maverick when I had the kill on board for both games because I can't get any wastelands or ports for his maze. Never saw any of them in the match.
The draw was to UW Stoneblade, game 3 went to time and I didn't have the win quite yet by my final turn of turn four and he doesn't have win on board either, so I ask if he wants to call it a draw, he shows me his hand which coinsisted of a batterskull and a V.Clique and he asks if I want to scoop to him. I say know because I still have all 4 STP's the 3 stoneforges and manriki-gusari as answers with 40ish cards left in the deck and I was still at 20 life and I would have had maybe 3-4 rounds to get them before it would have been too late.
Most Memorable game of day 1 happens in round 8. I was on the play for game 1 and I have to mull to five(only double mull of the tourney). I keep a hand consisting of Plains, Wasteland, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, and Mother of Runes. He forces my turn one Vial (much to my dismay, but not the end of the world)... I don't remember exactly what happens, but at the end of the game I had broken 2 standstills and he used 3 pernicious deeds, he broke the third standstill because I kept using Rishadan Ports and Wastelands to stop his only aggro win con of Mishra's Factory. Eventually he lands a Mindsculptor that I kill, then a second one a turn or two later that I can't deal with since he counters my Flickerwisps that would have reset the loyalty counters. All in all he had around 10 more cards in his deck from all the brainstorms, jacestorms, and standstills. He was playing a deck that I hadn't seen in most of a year called BUG Still. I had him down to 4 life(if I recal correctly) with two equipment in my hand and a Karakas when I already had one in play. He uses the Ultimate ability of Jace for the win, but for mulling to 5 on the play I did extremely well for being at that much card disadvantage(especially when he draws 6 free cards from the 2 standstills. I end up winning with relative ease in games 2 and 3 though ^_^
I am 51st place going in to game two.
I win round 10 against zoo played by Mary Jacobson with game one taking just under 20 minutes.
Lost round 11 to Ben Stark playing maverick
Round 12 Lost to high tide in three games(game two I had Canonist, Thalia, Revoker naming candlelabra, and leonin arbiter on board to his 4 lands.)
Round 13 I almost lose against Maverick in game three because I pick up my Phyrexian Revoker that's naming my opponents SOLAS, but catch it in time before I actually put it there. He played Qasali Pridemage, sacrificed it to destroy my Revoker, but I realize that it's a colored source just in time to save it with one of my two active Moms.
Round 14 I play against UW Stoneblade again and get him in a 15 mintue game one, then game two at the end of the game(he scooped) I had 4 plains and 2 ports in play after him wasting a karakas and me wasting his 2 tundras. I get an AEther Vial on 3 counters and another one on 2 counters with Thalia on board and Magara did his trick with flickerwisp once, and karakas 4 times before he wastes the karakas(got rid of his basic lands) the turn after he wastes the karakas I top deck a second Flickerwisp and get another permanent. at the end of the game he has 4 lands left, 2 factories, a laboratory, and an academy ruins. I keep tapping the factories on his turn when he goes to activate them, or at the end of turn so I have a free attack on him... That was my favorite game on the tourney, mainly because I got to completely lock him out of the game with Mangara/Flickerwisp/Karakas combos.
In round 15 I play against Maverick again(if I recall correctly for the 5th time), lose game one to an active Jitte that just rapes my board, get game two with Mangara( my only creature other than an active Mom) equiped with SOFI and SOLaS... Game three he get jitte active and I have 4 turns to top deck my own Jitte or stoneforge to search for mine, I don't get it in time and lose to Maverick for a second round which makes me a bit disappointed since the build I have is generally very good against aggro based strategies.
I was rather lucky the entire tourney that I only played against one combo deck and that was in round 13. I lose a total of 6 games on day 2 for a total game loss of 11 for the tourney(had to play all 15 rounds).
With adding the Grinder in with a game win loss of 8-4. My total weekend experience was of losing 15 games in 49 games (Presuming that I did my math correctly)
I end up with 72nd place, if my opponent and I had agreed to ID we would have had enough points to top 64, but by playing it out whoever won had an outside shot of top 32.
Without further ado, here's the list I used for both the grinder and the GP:
Main:
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Mangara of Corondor
3 Mirran Crusader
4 Mother of Runes
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 AEther Vial
3 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of LIght and Shadow
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Karakas
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
9 Plains
Side:
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Etherswormn Canonist
2 Goldmeadow Harrier
3 Jotun Grunt
3 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Manriki-Gusari
1 Phyrexian Revoker
The Forge-Tenders were added because on the prevalence of Red and they served me quite well in many of my matches... especially good with SOLAS
The Leonin Relic-Warders were a choice that my friends questioned(quite frankly I almost put something else in there myself), but with AEther Vial on 2 and an opponent not responding to it (ie: Stifle), vialing in a Relic-Warder to get rid of a Factory is awesome! Did that a few times and it also gets rid of Batterskull and other equipment quite nicely, especially when you responds to it by Flickerwisping the Relic-Warder away... did that one once during the GP... Highly unlikely to have both in hand with a vial on 2 and a vial on 3, but it does happen apparently.
The Goldmeadow Harriers are great at tapping down things like Emrakul, or KoTR, and other irritating creatures.
I actually prefer the Mirran Crusader over the Serra Avenger because it gives me another reason to take Vial to three other than just Mangara and Flickerwisp, and I can cast it on turn three, unlike the Avenger. I come with pro green and with a lot of Maverick running around it just seems like a decent call. Not to mention the dounble strike activations with equipment and an active Mom to make sure it gets through(won several games with an Urzatroned Crusader, much to the annoyance of my foes. With both Swords on it it's pro pretty much everything(just land and colorless artifacts can stop it), and with Ports and Wastes, Maze normally doesn't bother it either(but I did lose that match against Maverick in two games with the Urzatron Crusader since I couldn't get Port of Wasteland.
I know some will undoubtable dislike my since I don't play an E-Tutor build, but I've found that the 4 main Leonin Arbiters(only really slows, not stops my 3 Stoneforges in my deck) hurt many more decks than a tutor package does, since they are main board and not just sided, so they are effective in all 3 games, not just games 2 and 3. It slows/stops fetches, KoTR, Stoneforge, and sometimes Kuldotha Forgemaster(personally I think is the only deck where the E-Tutor side is better than the Arbiter main because of Stony Silence).
I also believe that people will complain about how I am no longer playing Batterskull, but chose SOLAS over it... Well I see it that the vigilance is definately amazing, without a doubt... But it doesn't recur creatures like SOLAS does, especially when on a Crusader, which can block it all day long with no problem. The Batterskull has lifelink, but SOLAS gains 3 per hit and recurs a dude each time. With the Forge-Tenders being recurred with the SOLAS, you can infinitely block the Germ with the Forge-Tender and sac it so they gain no life (The ability doesn't target.).
Final Record of Grinder #1: 4-1
Final record of GP Indy: 10-4-1
Final Record of Rounds Played during the Weekend: 14-8-1
Final Game Win-Loss-Draw: 34-15
Game win percentage was 69.4%
I did the first grinder on Friday with my D&T's list (Will share at bottom of post) and made it to the finals where I lose to Charbelcher. He won the die roll and got 14 gobs turn one, and game to he had to top deck the belcher to win the game which he did, but then game three he would have gone first again and would likely won that game, so I am not disappointed with my finish of second with 24 packs...
I had no byes for the Grand Prix itself, mainly because I don't have much time to play in a lot of events and STD isn't my favorite format and just made a deck for it a month ago... I end up having to play round one... by the end of round 5 my record was 3-1-1... I have to win the next four rounds to make it to day 2... I win the first 3 and in the final round something highly unfortunate happens... for my opponent, I win the final round against the same player who gave a friend of mine his first loss. By some miracle I make it to day 2 with only having lost 5 games in 9 rounds of playing.
lost one round to maverick when I had the kill on board for both games because I can't get any wastelands or ports for his maze. Never saw any of them in the match.
The draw was to UW Stoneblade, game 3 went to time and I didn't have the win quite yet by my final turn of turn four and he doesn't have win on board either, so I ask if he wants to call it a draw, he shows me his hand which coinsisted of a batterskull and a V.Clique and he asks if I want to scoop to him. I say know because I still have all 4 STP's the 3 stoneforges and manriki-gusari as answers with 40ish cards left in the deck and I was still at 20 life and I would have had maybe 3-4 rounds to get them before it would have been too late.
Most Memorable game of day 1 happens in round 8. I was on the play for game 1 and I have to mull to five(only double mull of the tourney). I keep a hand consisting of Plains, Wasteland, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, and Mother of Runes. He forces my turn one Vial (much to my dismay, but not the end of the world)... I don't remember exactly what happens, but at the end of the game I had broken 2 standstills and he used 3 pernicious deeds, he broke the third standstill because I kept using Rishadan Ports and Wastelands to stop his only aggro win con of Mishra's Factory. Eventually he lands a Mindsculptor that I kill, then a second one a turn or two later that I can't deal with since he counters my Flickerwisps that would have reset the loyalty counters. All in all he had around 10 more cards in his deck from all the brainstorms, jacestorms, and standstills. He was playing a deck that I hadn't seen in most of a year called BUG Still. I had him down to 4 life(if I recal correctly) with two equipment in my hand and a Karakas when I already had one in play. He uses the Ultimate ability of Jace for the win, but for mulling to 5 on the play I did extremely well for being at that much card disadvantage(especially when he draws 6 free cards from the 2 standstills. I end up winning with relative ease in games 2 and 3 though ^_^
I am 51st place going in to game two.
I win round 10 against zoo played by Mary Jacobson with game one taking just under 20 minutes.
Lost round 11 to Ben Stark playing maverick
Round 12 Lost to high tide in three games(game two I had Canonist, Thalia, Revoker naming candlelabra, and leonin arbiter on board to his 4 lands.)
Round 13 I almost lose against Maverick in game three because I pick up my Phyrexian Revoker that's naming my opponents SOLAS, but catch it in time before I actually put it there. He played Qasali Pridemage, sacrificed it to destroy my Revoker, but I realize that it's a colored source just in time to save it with one of my two active Moms.
Round 14 I play against UW Stoneblade again and get him in a 15 mintue game one, then game two at the end of the game(he scooped) I had 4 plains and 2 ports in play after him wasting a karakas and me wasting his 2 tundras. I get an AEther Vial on 3 counters and another one on 2 counters with Thalia on board and Magara did his trick with flickerwisp once, and karakas 4 times before he wastes the karakas(got rid of his basic lands) the turn after he wastes the karakas I top deck a second Flickerwisp and get another permanent. at the end of the game he has 4 lands left, 2 factories, a laboratory, and an academy ruins. I keep tapping the factories on his turn when he goes to activate them, or at the end of turn so I have a free attack on him... That was my favorite game on the tourney, mainly because I got to completely lock him out of the game with Mangara/Flickerwisp/Karakas combos.
In round 15 I play against Maverick again(if I recall correctly for the 5th time), lose game one to an active Jitte that just rapes my board, get game two with Mangara( my only creature other than an active Mom) equiped with SOFI and SOLaS... Game three he get jitte active and I have 4 turns to top deck my own Jitte or stoneforge to search for mine, I don't get it in time and lose to Maverick for a second round which makes me a bit disappointed since the build I have is generally very good against aggro based strategies.
I was rather lucky the entire tourney that I only played against one combo deck and that was in round 13. I lose a total of 6 games on day 2 for a total game loss of 11 for the tourney(had to play all 15 rounds).
With adding the Grinder in with a game win loss of 8-4. My total weekend experience was of losing 15 games in 49 games (Presuming that I did my math correctly)
I end up with 72nd place, if my opponent and I had agreed to ID we would have had enough points to top 64, but by playing it out whoever won had an outside shot of top 32.
Without further ado, here's the list I used for both the grinder and the GP:
Main:
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Mangara of Corondor
3 Mirran Crusader
4 Mother of Runes
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 AEther Vial
3 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of LIght and Shadow
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Karakas
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
9 Plains
Side:
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Etherswormn Canonist
2 Goldmeadow Harrier
3 Jotun Grunt
3 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Manriki-Gusari
1 Phyrexian Revoker
The Forge-Tenders were added because on the prevalence of Red and they served me quite well in many of my matches... especially good with SOLAS
The Leonin Relic-Warders were a choice that my friends questioned(quite frankly I almost put something else in there myself), but with AEther Vial on 2 and an opponent not responding to it (ie: Stifle), vialing in a Relic-Warder to get rid of a Factory is awesome! Did that a few times and it also gets rid of Batterskull and other equipment quite nicely, especially when you responds to it by Flickerwisping the Relic-Warder away... did that one once during the GP... Highly unlikely to have both in hand with a vial on 2 and a vial on 3, but it does happen apparently.
The Goldmeadow Harriers are great at tapping down things like Emrakul, or KoTR, and other irritating creatures.
I actually prefer the Mirran Crusader over the Serra Avenger because it gives me another reason to take Vial to three other than just Mangara and Flickerwisp, and I can cast it on turn three, unlike the Avenger. I come with pro green and with a lot of Maverick running around it just seems like a decent call. Not to mention the dounble strike activations with equipment and an active Mom to make sure it gets through(won several games with an Urzatroned Crusader, much to the annoyance of my foes. With both Swords on it it's pro pretty much everything(just land and colorless artifacts can stop it), and with Ports and Wastes, Maze normally doesn't bother it either(but I did lose that match against Maverick in two games with the Urzatron Crusader since I couldn't get Port of Wasteland.
I know some will undoubtable dislike my since I don't play an E-Tutor build, but I've found that the 4 main Leonin Arbiters(only really slows, not stops my 3 Stoneforges in my deck) hurt many more decks than a tutor package does, since they are main board and not just sided, so they are effective in all 3 games, not just games 2 and 3. It slows/stops fetches, KoTR, Stoneforge, and sometimes Kuldotha Forgemaster(personally I think is the only deck where the E-Tutor side is better than the Arbiter main because of Stony Silence).
I also believe that people will complain about how I am no longer playing Batterskull, but chose SOLAS over it... Well I see it that the vigilance is definately amazing, without a doubt... But it doesn't recur creatures like SOLAS does, especially when on a Crusader, which can block it all day long with no problem. The Batterskull has lifelink, but SOLAS gains 3 per hit and recurs a dude each time. With the Forge-Tenders being recurred with the SOLAS, you can infinitely block the Germ with the Forge-Tender and sac it so they gain no life (The ability doesn't target.).
Final Record of Grinder #1: 4-1
Final record of GP Indy: 10-4-1
Final Record of Rounds Played during the Weekend: 14-8-1
Final Game Win-Loss-Draw: 34-15
Game win percentage was 69.4%