1st with RUG Tempo

[wcm8]

Empire Games
Kent, OH
03/31/2012
54 players, 6 Rounds of Swiss -> Top 8

Main Deck:
2 Flooded Strand
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Tropical Island
3 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Brainstorm
2 Forked Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
4 Spell Pierce
4 Spell Snare
3 Daze
1 Predict
3 Force of Will

Sideboard:
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
4 Submerge
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Sulfur Elemental
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Life from the Loam

2-1 Burn
In: 1 Tormod's Crypt
Out:1 Predict

My reasoning was that Predict often requires 3 lands to set up (dangerous vs. Burn), and Crypt could a) grow Tarmogoyf, and b) deal with Grim Lavamancer and Hellspark Elemental. I was lucky to draw Crypt and 2 Goyfs early on in the final game of the series, which justified my decision even though it's a pretty loose one. I found out after the match that he was not playing any Elementals. All 3 games were very close, but I got luckier with my draws than my opponent. The only ‘techy’ play I recall doing was using Ponder to find a card I needed, leaving 2 lands on top, then cracking a fetch to shuffle them away but ‘failing to find’ a land to avoid a PoP blow-out.

2-0 Merfolk
In: 2 Blasts, 1 Loam, 3 Sulfur Elemental, 2 Ancient Grudge
Out: 3 Daze, 4 Spell Pierce, 1 FoW

I haven't play-tested against Merfolk in ages, so I'm not sure if this was the best SB configuration. Either way, it worked out. I did mess up in the second game and got my Tarmogoyf Submerged when I fetched, but it didn't matter since I was already beating down with Mongeese.

2-0 Goblins
In: 1 Loam, 3 Sulfur Elemental
Out: 4 Spell Pierce

I was able to kill T1 Lackeys both games, and my burn and bigger creatures were enough to deal with the onslaught. I also had Daze and FoW at key moments.

2-0 Bant
In: 4 Submerge, 2 Blasts,
Out: 3 Daze, 3 Spell Pierce

Neither game was particularly close, as I used Wasteland, Daze/FoW, and Bolts on his Hierarchs to keep him from doing anything relevant. Mongoose having Shroud was very relevant.

Double ID into top 8

Top 8:
2-1 Dredge
In: 2 Surgical Extraction, 1 Tormod’s Crypt, 1 Sulfur Elemental
Out: 4 Spell Snare

I brought in the Elemental in the hopes of surprising him with a chump blocker to get rid of Bridges. I beat him G1 by countering his key enabler spells and racing with creatures/burn. G2 is back and forth for awhile, and I might have screwed up when I finally drew my Surgical Extraction. He had 4 Bridges in the yard (I only had Mongeese on the board, so burning my own guy was not an option), a couple Ichorids, and a dead Narcomoeba. I wasn’t sure at this point if I should get rid of the Narcs to prevent him from Dread Returning/Cabal Therapying, the Ichorids to preserve my life total/Return/Therapy, or just get rid of the Bridges to cut him off completely from that mode of winning. I decided to hit the Bridges (which was probably wrong), and died in short order to him Dread Returning a Flayer of the Hatebound since he dredged into some Narcs the following turn. I did end up Pondering into a second Surgical Extraction in the following turn, but I was at 1 life and couldn’t use it. G3 was a different story since I drew an early Crypt and Extraction and he pretty much couldn’t do anything.

2-0 Lands
In: 1 Life from the Loam, 2 Surgical Extraction, 2 Ancient Grudge, 2 Sulfur Elemental
Out: 4 Spell Snare, 3 Daze

I brought in 2 Elementals for more beats, which was probably a mistake and I should have left more Snares in. I just figured that countering Loam for a turn is a pretty weak play.

G1 I got lucky with early Mongeese which can’t be Maze’d. G2 is longer and back and forth (Grudged a Chalice, Loamed my own lands back, etc.) but I get him to low enough life with Mongeese that he dies to burn (he dredged away Zuran Orb to Loam already). I think this matchup is generally unfavorable and I just got really lucky and my opponent made some misplays along the way.

2-0 B/W 'Deadguy Ale'-ish (Dark Confidant, Bitterblossom, Hymn/1 cmc discard, and Chrome Mox)
In: 3 Sulfur Elemental, 1 Life from the Loam
Out: 3 Daze, 1 FoW

I offered to prize split but my opponent wanted to play it out. G1 I get some early pressure and have Snares/Pierces at the right time. I am able to Predict his Sensei’s Divining Top after he used it to draw an extra removal spell on his turn, which was a pretty key play for me. G2 he gets unlucky and mulligans to 5. I apply early pressure and eventually punch through for the kill with Tarmogoyf after Bolting his only blocker, a Bitterblossom Faerie.

I got extremely lucky in my pairings since I didn't have to face Maverick at all, which is one of the few decks RUG has a ton of trouble with. I’m not sure if there’s anything that can be done with the deck to greatly improve that matchup without making too many concessions to other decks.

I think the main board is perfect, even the single Predict which was awesome every time I saw it. I would definitely play 19 lands, and I think a Basic Island isn't really necessary. Stifle seems to me to be pretty miserable right now, especially on the draw -- I lost the coin flip every single time except against dredge in the top 8. I don't think the deck really needs it at the moment.

The SB was fine, although I'd like to somehow find room for another Tormod's Crypt and possibly Sulfuric Vortex. Not sure what I'd cut. I'd love to hear criticisms about my boarding decisions and also any suggestions regarding the sideboard.

[nitewolf9]

Congrats on the win, RUG is definitely a monster. I agree fully with no stifle and that this deck probably needs spell snare when it is on the draw.

Surgical extraction seems worse than a couple more tormod's crypts here. The crypts are better against dredge and just as good against everything else that uses the yard.
Extraction is only good with snapcaster when you are running 4 of them and can reliably see multiples. Also, Swords to Plowshares greatly increases the effectiveness of extirpate effects in that matchup as you can just keep them off guys and ignore bridge. I want my yard hate to beat dredge on its own. Extraction is cool against Tide but that deck is not that popular and you are already ahead.

I'm curious what sulfur elemental and 4 Submerges does for the maverick matchup. I would think that setup would let you reliably get in there a couple of times with a ground pounder or two, letting delver or burn finish them pretty quickly. Knight and zenith to find them still seems like a problem I guess. Not too much you can do about that one other than the submerges.

[wcm8]

I think you're right regarding Surgical Extraction. The 'gotcha' factor against Reanimator is not typical since they may just go for the Show and Tell route or use discard prior to binning a monster. I was thinking they'd be useful against Loam/Lingering Souls, but yeah, Crypt is probably just as good in those matchups (especially against Lands). And obviously Crypt is superior against Dredge.

I would then start the SB changes with:

-2 Surgical Extraction
-1 X (undecided, possibly Loam since as a 1 of it seems a bit random and RUG doesn't abuse it that well)
+3 Tormod's Crypt

[Water_Wizard]

Regarding specific match-ups in the rounds, I would bring in PBlast over Sulfur Elemental against Dredge since 2 of their major enablers are blue (Careful Study / Breakthrough). PBlast can also kill a Delver / Narco in a pinch.

Regarding the sideboard generally, I agree with the posters above. I would have your final sideboard look like this:
4 Submerge
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Life from the Loam
3 Sulfur Elemental
2 Sulfuric Vortex

I'm curious why you are running the REB/PB. Does it really help out that much? With 4 Spell Pierce, 4 Spell Snare, 3 Daze and 3 FOW, that's a lot of counterspells (more than most UW Stoneblade decks). In this tournament, it appears they were helpful as permanent destruction against BANT/Folk, but in general, they look like an underutilized slot. I guess they can always blast a Jace.
Do you consider the Counterbalance sideboard? With your build, it is probably not necessary, since you are so counter-heavy in your main deck. Seems like you are well-tuned to fight combo, but you didn't play any combo decks.

Against Maverick, I would board in +4 Submerge, +3 Sulfur Elemental, +1 Life from the Loam, - 4 Spell Pierce, - 3 Daze, - 1 FOW. Ancient Grudge is questionable, maybe +1, - 1 Spell Snare. I like at least 2 FOW on the draw, since it is our only out to Choke.

I've been running a list similar to Caleb Durward's list. It cuts Spell Pierce and Spell Snare for Stifle and some extra slots. From your list, I'm:
-1 land
-4 SS
-4 SP
-1 Predict
+1 FOW
+1 Daze
+4 Stifle
+2 Thought Scour
+1 Forked Bolt
+1 SDT

I like the list above because it is straight tempo (besides from Stifle, which I may cut because it isn't that great right now). It only runs free counters and the extra Forked Bolt helps out with the Maverick match-up. The SDT is for the Counterbalance board (+3 Counterbalance +2 SDT), which makes up for the lack of counterspells maindeck. The reason I like the "straight tempo" list is because you don't have to decide to play a 1 drop or hold back mana for SS/SP. All of your spells are agressive, so you just move forward.

What's you rational behind boarding out Daze? Is it a cost-benefit analysis? I notice sometimes, you cut it on the draw, sometimes you leave it in. Is it match specific? The general rule-of-thumb is to board Daze out on the draw, but RUG Tempo may be one of the few decks that bucks this trend.

Thanks for your post.

[wcm8]

Words

Red Blasts are one of the best reasons to play the color in Legacy due to the ubiquity of Blue. Jace is just one of many blue problems that's easily solved with red blasts.

In my sideboarding, I tried to decide what is the weakest card in each matchup. If a deck is running acceleration and/or a solid manabase, I tend to side Daze out on the draw. But against 'combo' decks like Burn or Dredge, you still want to leave them in since the rest of your options aren't as strong, even on the draw.

I'm not completely sold on Sulfuric Vortex. I get why it could be good, but it seems clunky/difficult to cast. How many matchups does it really even come in for? Just UWx Blade? Seems too slow for combo and too risky against aggro.

[GGoober]

Nice job!

Just curious as to why you have been boarding into Sulfur elementals so frequently even in matchups where his -1/-1 ability does not apply to non-white matchups.

Is the 2R cost for a 3/2 split second flash creature impressive in your games so far?

[wcm8]

Nice job!

Just curious as to why you have been boarding into Sulfur elementals so frequently even in matchups where his -1/-1 ability does not apply to non-white matchups.

Is the 2R cost for a 3/2 split second flash creature impressive in your games so far?

I was taking out cards that I thought would not be that useful in a given matchup, and then bringing in stuff that would at least be serviceable. So for example, against Goblins and Merefolk, Spell Pierce was not going to do a lot of work, especially if they get an early Aether Vial out.

A 3/2 uncounterable creature with flash is not too shabby, even when there aren't any opposing white creatures. Against the tribal decks, you could get them to swing in and surprise block their Lord -- essentially having the elemental function as a removal spell. The other advantage is that it increases your threat density to almost Zoo-like levels. You want to always be the aggressor with this deck, and Sulfur Elemental helps with that approach even if the static debuff isn't relevant.

He can also function as an additional way to kill Jace, much like Vendilion Clique -- not every UW player is savvy enough to fateseal first on an empty board.

I probably shouldn't have brought them in against Lands, but it was kind of moot because I didn't see them that game.

It's definitely one of the best sideboard cards for RUG right now, I'm surprised it took this long to catch on even before the printing of Lingering Souls. I certainly wasn't aware of its existence prior to GP Indianapolis.

[GtF]

Nice job, but what happened to team grixis?

[wcm8]

Nice job, but what happened to team grixis?

I want to perfect the list prior to doing real 'field testing' with it. I'll probably bring it to the next local tournament, but for a tournament that required 1.5 hours of travel, I just wanted to bring something proven (I know, I know.. I fully admit being a Spike). I'm still making tweaks to it and am testing it on Cockatrice and some IRL, but I don't feel like it's quite tuned to perfection.

I'm still up in the air about the Dark Confidant/Tombstalker split, and after this tournament I saw just how incredibly relevant Mongoose's shroud really was. Tarmogoyf was okay for the most part, but I don't think he was really all that essential to my winning any rounds aside from against burn (in the other matches, any creature probably would have gotten there). I think if we can get just one more good blue/red/black creature printed to add into the mix, Team Grixis is definitely a go.