SCG Sacramento Top 16

[DrHealex]

3 Maverick, 3 Stoneblade, 2 rug tempo, 2 storm (1 ant, 1 pastinflames?), 1 sneak and show, 1 goblins, 1 aggro loam, 1 enchantress, 1 burn.

And last but not least, a crazy bant homebrew wins it all in order to TROLL all of us legacy players with cards like Psionic Blast, Spectral Flight, Unstable Mutation, and hex proof dudes. (congrats btw)

God I love this format :D

[Aggro_zombies]

I wtf'ed hard at that Bant list. I can see Spectral Flight, but Unstable Mutation? Is there actually just nothing better than that?

EDIT: I would have loved to see how tilted Galen was after the event. I don't think I've ever seen him angry before, but he has very definite opinions on what's good and bad in the format.

[Jonathan Alexander]

2 storm (1 ant, 1 pastinflames?)

It's Grinding Station (=

Also, that Bant deck is awesome : D

[Zilla]

That Bant deck is... amazing.

[lordofthepit]

The amazing thing about Legacy is that it is incredibly diverse, and there are a multitude of decks that can win. People really underestimate the diversity. One of the SCG crew asked how much of a presence Esper Stoneblade would be this week, and one of the respondents replied 30%. I LOL'ed. Even at its peak, the four Survival of the Fittest decks (U/G, G/W, Ooze, Retainers) combined didn't even account for 20%, and that's as dominant a deck as has existed in Legacy since the SCG Legacy Open began.

[Amon Amarth]

That deck played Troll Ascetic. And quite well I must say. (WINK WINK)

[majikal]

I've been crushing people with Troll Ascetic for the last couple of weeks. I'm actually kind of sad that the cat is out of the bag now. It's the real deal, people.

[Koby]

Galen only plays combo decks, and didnt appear to know the formats decks all that well. I too laughed and was shaking my head at the Unstable Mutation deck when I say it in play, hella clever idea.

[lordofthepit]

It's Grinding Station (=

Also, that Bant deck is awesome : D

Too bad he didn't run any Empty the Warrens. I saw him on the camera against RUG Delver (didn't realize it was Grinding Station at the time), but he couldn't beat a Counterbalance on 1 since he only had cantrip effects and rituals in the yard.

[Jonathan Alexander]

There are several odd things about his list, yeah. I don't see why four copies of Past in Flames should be necessary. I've been running three with less cantrips and no Burning Wishes and that was too many.
Anyway, does anyone know him? I'd like to talk about the decision trees behind his list.

[GGoober]

Holy mother of trolls. That list is amazing! TROLOL.

I am wondering is Unstable Mutation really needed. Seems like you could have gone Rancor and do better but I guess his list was really in the mindset of playing with nostalgic cards such as Psionic Blast and Unstable Mutation lol.

[Octopusman]

The last time I used unstable mutation it was when I was cracking packs of Revised.
It's not bad actually. Especially when you're swinging big for a couple of turns.

The problem has always been that you get 2 for 1'd. Hexproof fixes that, I guess. The extra 5+ damage over a few turns can win games apparently.

bravo.

[xfxf]

I guess it's time to dust-off the Empyrial Armor/Soltari Priest White Weenie. :laugh:

[jrw1985]

Psionic Blast actually kind wrecks the format, right? I mean, what doesn't it kill? 4 Pridemage giving the finger to the SFMs, 8 mana dorks powering out the T2 3drops, Hexproof making the auras playable.

You gotta think that a lot of his opponents were just super confused, right?
T1 Heirarch
T2 Geist
T3 Unstable Mutation, Pridemage, Attack for 11

Who's seeing that line of play coming?

[nedleeds]

I played 4 x Psionic Blasts the past couple of weeks ....

... in my Sea Drake Stompy deck ... :really:

[klaus]

Here's the LINK (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/deckshow.php?&t[C1]=3&start_date=2012-03-18&end_date=2012-03-18&city=Sacramento)

[ReAnimator]

I've been running Unstables in UG infect for a while now, and i top 4'd states this year with Spectral Flight's (thought that was standard) so i'm super pleased with seeing that list do well! Usually the reason you would go with Unstable over Rancor would be because of Force of Will, but since he isn't running those i'm not sure if it's better, i guess it depends on how many blockers you expect to face, but that shouldn't matter with Troll, only Geist.

[alderon666]

Commentators said he used Spectral Flights because he couldn't find Rancors in time.

I must confess I feel Spectral Flight is better. Giving your Geist flying seems more important than a recurring aura.

[Richard Cheese]

I guess it's time to dust-off the Empyrial Armor/Soltari Priest White Weenie. :laugh:

Oh my god you just made me nostalgia so hard. Ultra Pro all just coming out with red sleeves.

[nedleeds]

Oh my god you just made me nostalgia so hard. Ultra Pro all just coming out with red sleeves.

Whenever they unban Land Tax that might just work again.

[Vacrix]

The Bant list is tight. The auras seem to compliment hexproof. Also, what's wrong with Unstable Mutation? Its U for 3 damage, then 2, then 1. I've always liked the card. What I don't understand is 8 mana dorks. Why that many? Birds probably could have been Force. Oh and yeah, theres no FoW but it took first.

Psionic Blast is an interesting choice. A kill spell or a reach spell, it definitely gives you that surprise win.

Whats up with Esperblade, post-board 4th FoW?

[Namida]

The Bant list is tight. The auras seem to compliment hexproof. Also, what's wrong with Unstable Mutation? Its U for 3 damage, then 2, then 1. I've always liked the card. What I don't understand is 8 mana dorks. Why that many? Birds probably could have been Force. Oh and yeah, theres no FoW but it took first.

Psionic Blast is an interesting choice. A kill spell or a reach spell, it definitely gives you that surprise win.

Whats up with Esperblade, post-board 4th FoW?

The way I see it, the guy wanted a hexproof guy on turn two every game, and if that didn't happen he could always slap an aura on a mana guy and try to go to work that way. I don't know if that's good, though.

[Vacrix]

If that was the plan, he might as well have played Quirion Rangers in place of BoP that way he could still have a solid mana base, and also untap his hexproof dude to block and win the race. I'd imagine aura on a mana dork would be a last resort. He ought to cantrip and try to find his hexproof dudes and hold on to the auras. I'm surprised that he doesn't run Thrun in place of some of those Geist's. 4 is a bit much when they are all legendary.

[tsabo_tavoc]

If that was the plan, he might as well have played Quirion Rangers in place of BoP that way he could still have a solid mana base, and also untap his hexproof dude to block and win the race. I'd imagine aura on a mana dork would be a last resort. He ought to cantrip and try to find his hexproof dudes and hold on to the auras. I'm surprised that he doesn't run Thrun in place of some of those Geist's. 4 is a bit much when they are all legendary.

You don't get 3 mana on Turn 2 by a Turn 1 Ranger. I don't see why Birds get played over GSZ though.

[TsumiBand]

I'd go as far as to say that if you can build a fast enough deck with enough decent Hexproof dudes, Auras > Equipment. The SFM package has been flexing for a couple years now, and it doesn't suck by any means. But, the drawback that Equipment attempts to fill wherein card disadvantage is concerned is no longer a problem thanks to Hexproof. And there are a ton of good-enough Auras that should be weighed pretty heavily when putting together anything with enough Hexproof dudes to negate the potential disadvantages. Unstable Mutation probably isn't one of them, but then again if your clock is fast enough it's +6 damage for U over 3 turns. vOv

[death]

Adding Berserk would be funny. Turn 3 attack for 17 gg?

[ScatmanX]

If that guy played Mind Bomb he would be my hero for life.
Still, awesome deck.

[groupcelebration]

Commentators said he used Spectral Flights because he couldn't find Rancors in time.

I must confess I feel Spectral Flight is better. Giving your Geist flying seems more important than a recurring aura.

They corrected this in the interview with him at the end of the night. He tested rancor but it didn't work out, so he changed it to spectral flight.

And unstable mutation is better than rancor, because of the toughness boost. If they are going to chump it, wouldn't you rather have your geist survive than trample an extra point or two of damage?

[DLifshitz]

Played against this Bant deck today, piloted by a friend, with GWu Maverick (I too played Geist but no Trolls) and Aggro Loam. The deck seems strong enough, especially on the play. However a resolved beater (KotR, Scavenging Ooze, Tarmogoyf) bigger than its own threats appears to seriously hinder its gameplan. I found that Plowing a mana dork was a good play against it because it always wants 3 mana on turn 2, it plays rather few lands for a 3-color deck, and it has few creatures without Hexproof anyway.

I am not yet convinced it's strong enough for Legacy, but I am certain we will be seeing it in Modern quite a lot.

[nedleeds]

I think Riding the Dilu Horse is better than all of them. You are already ramping to 3+ mana ... by the time you cast this you have Spell Pierce back up. Then nothing can block your angry hexproof men. They also can't disenchant the effect or Qasali Pridemage it .......

[Koby]

I think Riding the Dilu Horse is better than all of them. You are already ramping to 3+ mana ... by the time you cast this you have Spell Pierce back up. Then nothing can block your angry hexproof men. They also can't disenchant the effect or Qasali Pridemage it .......

If we had a Like button, I would use it for this post.

[nedleeds]

If we had a Like button, I would use it for this post.

You also get the added benefit of moving to combat. Tapping your guys and instead of saying attack you can say:

'Ride.'

[Aggro_zombies]

http://images.dailydawdle.com/we-ride.jpg

Someone photoshop Geist into this.

[sdematt]

Geist on a horse, charging into battle with a flying angel (who could also be on a horse, I guess).

Seems tight.

-Matt

[xfxf]

Mesa Pegasus (http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/magic_single_card.asp?cn=Mesa%20Pegasus) anyone?

[Vacrix]

Pssh play Sacred Mesa man.

[Neuad]

Everyone knows the west coast isn't a real meta. Plus with 117 people, does this really deserve it's own thread?

[Aggro_zombies]

Everyone knows the west coast isn't a real meta. Plus with 117 people, does this really deserve it's own thread?
Just wait until they come to Phoenix. It'll be SCG: People from LA Who Could Be Bothered To Drive For Hours.

[sdematt]

GP Phoenix: People from LA with nothing to do: Sunday afternoon edition.

-Matt

[Koby]

SCG: "The 20 locals + CA metagame" more likely.

[XcaliberZ]

Wish NorCal (south bay) had more of legacy scene.. unfortunately, I couldn't make it out to Sac with the Legend's people. :cry:

[Ziveeman]

SCG: "The 20 locals + CA metagame" more likely.

Yeah, the largest Legacy event in recent memory in Phoenix was like 30 players, and that was almost a year ago. I'm hoping the scene has grown since then..

[Plague Sliver]

Mind. Blown.

[majikal]

LMAO, I just noticed that SCG changed the name of the winning deck from "Unstable Bant" to "Blouses". Amazing.:laugh:

[aahz]

Wish NorCal (south bay) had more of legacy scene.. unfortunately, I couldn't make it out to Sac with the Legend's people. :cry:
From talking to people at SCG Sac, I'm starting to get the impression that there are actually quite a few Legacy players around, but we are just a little too spread out and unwilling put in the time to spearhead an effort to drum up a scene (and probably also to travel far to events). What I'm saying is that maybe we just don't want it enough or have too many "adult" responsibilities that get in the way of showing up, rather than just having an actual lack of individuals with the cards and inclination to play.

[Fuzzy]

I'm quite surprised that I can't find the Blouses thread on DTB Forum.

NOT

[Aggro_zombies]

From talking to people at SCG Sac, I'm starting to get the impression that there are actually quite a few Legacy players around, but we are just a little too spread out and unwilling put in the time to spearhead an effort to drum up a scene (and probably also to travel far to events). What I'm saying is that maybe we just don't want it enough or have too many "adult" responsibilities that get in the way of showing up, rather than just having an actual lack of individuals with the cards and inclination to play.
One of the issues is finding a centralized, easy-to-access location, preferably something accessible via BART and driving. I know Superstars had some tournaments when I was still in the Bay Area that I didn't attend because I didn't have a car, and stuff in San Francisco was like an hour one-way and $10 round-trip via BART - not exactly enticing if only a handful of people actually show up.

[XcaliberZ]

Yeah, I agree. Between the commute, work hours and other responsibilities, it's hard to find a critical mass of folks to play Legacy, as we tend to be the older types. We probably need someone to get some momentum going..

[TsumiBand]

I think Riding the Dilu Horse is better than all of them. You are already ramping to 3+ mana ... by the time you cast this you have Spell Pierce back up. Then nothing can block your angry hexproof men. They also can't disenchant the effect or Qasali Pridemage it .......

This is entirely fair and worth pointing out, though; playable Hexproof dudes really does change a lot of the dynamic concerning combat tricks and pump spells. Like, removal doesn't counter pump spells anymore, wtf. Suddenly a control player has to burn a counterspell on Mutagenic Growth or lose the game? Ew.

Compare Unstable Mutation to, like, Giant Growth or some shit, and it instantly makes more sense why a fast aggro deck would just as soon take Mutation. I think there's a ton of unmined design space regarding Hexproof and pump spells, and kudos to Blouses and its pilot for stealing a tourney.

[ajfennewald]

Travel preparations seems like it would work well too.

[Aggro_zombies]

Travel preparations seems like it would work well too.
The problem with Travel Prep is that it's one counter per creature, so 2GW nets you only +2/+2 to one of your hexproof guys. I don't know how often you get two of them out closely together, but it seems not as worth it compared to Riding the Dilu Horse or the auras.

[death]

Yeah, I agree. Between the commute, work hours and other responsibilities, it's hard to find a critical mass of folks to play Legacy, as we tend to be the older types. We probably need someone to get some momentum going..

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=220026&type=card


http://www.startbackpacking.com/travel/images/travel-preparation.jpg

[Vacrix]

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/540222_10150627519725954_668225953_9330672_636595317_n.jpg


...someone had to

[Water_Wizard]

Haha! I would use the 'like' button here, too.

[Solar Ice]

That was really funny Vacrix :laugh:

And a killer winning deck as well!

[xfxf]

So am I checking out the wrong URL or what? Yesterday's SCG Top 8 shows 6/8 Maverick :laugh:

[DrHealex]

So am I checking out the wrong URL or what? Yesterday's SCG Top 8 shows 6/8 Maverick :laugh:

I guess people should have played burn. It wrecks maverick AND I hear its a DTB :D

[xfxf]

Oh, I'm looking forward to black decks preying on Maverick builds. I'm considering to give the old BUGStill a try.