citanul
06-14-2012, 05:23 AM
Last weekend I went to play another tournament, my second since me not playing for a few months. The week before there were 2 other GPT's. I didn't go on Saturday because I didn't feel like playing magic 2 days in a row and I would go on Sunday. I got called for work Saturday night at 3.30 for an issue which was only fixed about 12 hours later. So I missed out on both those and wanted to make sure I could go now.
My parents left on their holiday the day before and I was home alone, making sure the dog gets walked and so on. I had to make some calls to get someone to walk the dog. My sister said yes and off I was! I went to pick up Wim, who for once had his deck ready and didn't build during the car ride. He played the two previous tournaments, top8'ed once and was delighted about it. Whatever makes you happy I guess. Previous to that top8 he wasn't happy with the deck but now he doesn't stop playing Imperial Painter.
An hour long drive later and we arrive. I enrol and see only a handful of people. I sit down and write my decklist. Doomsday as usual! The maindeck is similar to the last time. Sideboard got adjusted a bit.
Maindeck:
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Tundra
1 Scrubland
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Chain of Vapor
4 Silence
3 Orim's Chant
1 Doomsday
1 Idea's Unbound
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Tendrils of Agony
3 Burning Wish
3 Infernal Tutor
Side:
3 Doomsday
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Thorn
1 Shelldock Isle
1 Massacre
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
1 Time Spiral
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Defense Grid
1 Virtue's Ruin
Jan showed up and informed me that he'd be playing Hypergenesis. Bit of an odd choice but he does what he wants. Only 20 people showed up, I was a bit dissapointed but it would still be 5 round Swiss and a top8.
Round1:
I'm paired against a player I know. I know him from a PTQ though, where he played monoRed. As he doesn't play Legacy I put him on the same deck, monoRed. I was correct.
Game1:
He opens with a turn1 Lavamancer. I play a Ponder. He casts Goblin Guide, smashes and casts Lava Spike. I play more setup spells for another turn. He casts Chain Lightning, attacks and activates Grim Lavamancer. I win through Infernal, Burning Wish into Ill-Gotten Gains.
I didn't really sideboard anything.
Game2:
He has a turn1 Goblin Guide which draws me a land. I play Ponder, put another land on top and discard because I hold 8 cards. He plays another Guide and hits for 4. I play SDT and pass. He attacks again and plays Magma Yet, having 1 mana open. I cast Probe and see nothing relevant, the game is won after Doomsday for IU, LED, Probe, LED, Burning Wish.
1-0-0. Not a hard matchup. Jan lost his match as did Wim.
Round2:
I saw the player play the round before against Jan. He is playing EsperBlade. I playtested this match and find myself to be favorite. The deck just applies no pressure. Even if it has a lot of disruption, without pressure I'll get there.
Game1:
He opens Island and passes. I cast SDT. He casts Brainstorm and follows it up with Stoneforge for Batterskull. I guess he doesn't play SoFaF. I cast Silence but it gets countered. He plays a land and passes. I cast Orim's Chant, resolves and I end the game. I can't recall how but I assume it was with Doomsday as I had SDT.
I sideboard out Ad Nauseam + some Petals and in comes Emrakul and extra DD's. Defense Grids swap out 2 Chants and I also make room for an extra Chain of Vapor.
Game2:
I open a hand with SDT, Ritual, Ritual, LED, Volcanic Island, Volcanic Island, Chain of Vapor. I think for a while, what if these were 2 other lands? In the end I decide that this should always be a mulligan against EsperBlade on the draw. A turn1 discard on SDT just nullifies the hand. My 6 are Burning Wish, Burning Wish, Ritual, SDT, 2 Fetch. He does indeed have the turn1 Thoughtseize and takes SDT. I topdeck SDT but he has the FoW for it. More discard happens and I'm stuck with 3 lands and 2 Burning Wish in hand. Another SDT gets countered once more. Some extra discard takes out one Burning Wish. Snapcaster into Thoughtseize. I reply with Ritual, Ad Nauseam but get countered. Thoughtseize takes the second Burning Wish.
Between Fow's, fetch and 3 Thoughtseize he is at 10 life. I naturally draw Tendrils of Agony, wait it out a bit more and eventually storm naturally for lethal.
2-0. A harder match but in my favor. Jan lost and dropped. Wim lost but as usual, keeps on playing.
Round3:
I'm paired against an unknown deck. I know the player from non-Legacy tournaments so I have no clue what he's playing. Turns out it's Merfolk. Not a deck I'd ever play but I consider it to be decent in the current meta.
Game1:
Turn1 Island doesn't mean a lot. I kept a slow hand and put him on a control deck so I play it slow and open with SDT. Turn2 Corralhelm Commander indicates Merfolk. I set up some more but am failing to find what I need. Lord of Atlantis and Mutavault join the party. I durdle a bit more and have to pass back. At a certain point I'm at 15 and he hits me for 14, putting me at 1 and negating the Doomsday and Ad Nauseam in hand which I lacked a Ritual for. He is holding 2 cards and I see Ritual, Infernal Tutor, Chant with SDT. I think for a while but can't grab the chant. I get Ritual, Infernal, cast some spells and mana for Infernal, Burning Wish into IGG for the win.
I don't sideboard anything.
Game2:
He has a quick start paired with some counter. I try to go off but he has enough counter to stop me and I'm quickly swimming with the fishes.
Game3:
Ponder, pass turn. Cursecatcher. Brainstorm, fetch pass turn. Lord of Atlantis, hit for 2. I fetch, draw, play land and cast Chant. Countered! i think for a while. Opponent holding 2 cards, me at 2 mana with Ritual, Ritual, Infernal, LED in hand. I can go for it around Cursecatcher and Daze with Ad Nauseam but lose against a Force of Will. I take the risk, Cursecatcher gets sacked somewhere but it's irrelevant, Nauseam resolves with a mana to spare. I flip down to 4 life and still need a Ritual, LED or Petal to win. Only card that kills me is Tendrils so I flip and it is..... a Petal. I cast probe just to make sure which draws me a LED. Easy win from that point with Petal, Petal, LED, LED, Infernal for Tendrils.
3-0. So that was a bit closer! But not a deck I expect to see often. 3-0 so I can draw into top8. The new rules allow the higher seed to choice play or draw in top8. With 3-0-2 I should be top4 so I'm fine with just drawing.
Round4:
I draw with Elfball and get something to eat.
Round5:
Opponent walks up to me, sais they are telling him to play but we are 1 and 2 so drawing is fine for him and he can go get some food. We do just that and he enjoys his meal.
Top8! Two Counterbalance Miracle, Merfolk, Elfball, RUGDelver, Two Sneaky Show and me. I'm paired with RUGDelver and my next round opponent would be one of the two CB Miracle decks who are against eachother. Great!
QF:
Also playtested this match. I feel this is depending on their fast opening but it sure is doable. I'm confidant about it because I know my opponent, another non regular Legacy player so he tends to make some mistakes.
Game1:
He mulligans to 6 but opens up with Delver after my Ponder. It gets flipped and joine dby a Mongoose and I dig some more. I cast Probe and see Bolt, Forked Bolt, Brainstorm, Tropical Island. I'm at 12, he has 4 cards in the graveyard. EOT I get bolted. I cast Silence during his upkeep, he reponds with Brainstorm, finds a Bolt and fetchland to deliver exactly lethal. I knew the odds were low and had to do it like this to go off the next turn. He got there.
I side in Defense Grids, out goes the Chain of Vapor and a Chant.
Game2:
No turn1 Delver this turn and my turn1 SDT resolved. Turn2 Grid gets a counter, turn3 Chant resolves and Doomsday finishes the job. I love that card!
I bring in the Chain of Vapors this time. I want to be able to slow a quick start down if necesarry by bouncing a Delver.
Game3:
Again no Delver but a turn1 Island into Brainstorm. I fetch Island and play Ponder which gets Dazed. Island gets replayed on his end and the Delver comes down. I play Defense Grid which resolves. Flip, Volcanic Island, Ponder and pass. I play some cantrips to set more stuff up. I get attacked again but no land drop. I'm completely safe due to Defense Grid and win with Doomsday.
Some mistakes on his end in game3 which made the game an easy victory. If he didn't find Bolt + Fetch with the Brainstorm game1 I would've won that one as well but that's magic!
SF:
As I said before, against CB Miracle. There are some differences in the lists. Once they finish their match my opponent asks for a few minutes. I don't mind and I talk with people. The other Semifinals has ended already, it will be the Merfolk player from round3 in the finals. He informs me that he already has 3 bye's and will concede.
Game1:
My opponent was higher seed so starts with island into SDT. I fetch Tundra into SDT. He uses SDT during upkeep so I know there's no CB. I do the same and follow it up with fetch. Again, no CB, 3rd land drop and pass. I fetch, see and try Silence during my turn. Force of Will. I can go for it and run the risk of another counter or wait a turn, play Chant then but run the risk of CB landing. I go with the CB plan which he doesn't have and doesn't find. I cast Chant which resolves and the game is over one Doomsday later.
I sideboard a lot. The entire Ad Nauseam package goes out. Bounce comes in, Emrakul comes in, Defense Grid comes in. I also side out Burning Wishes and bring in the 2nd Tendrils.
Game2:
Both open with SDT again but this time he does have the Counterbalance. I set up for a long game as I don't have enough black mana to hardcast Doomsday. It takes me a while to find a fetch to get BBB. He has Entreat the Angels for a CC of 3 whn I finally can cast Doomsday. Jace also comes down and slowly ticks up. I have a hand with Tendrils, Ritual, Ritual, Chant, Petal, LED, Ponder and my opponent at 18. I see Dark Ritual with SDT and my opponent has Jace at 13. I switch SDT during my upkeep, draw it and cast SDT. Opponent switches one of his two SDT's. I reply with Dark Ritual. Opponent thinks and decides on casting Flusterstorm on Dark Ritual. I notice that he is trying to deprive me of mana which won't be possible and I let Flusterstorm resolve, react to the SDT switch with another Ritual and he takes the bait with Snapcaster for Flusterstorm. I cast the third Ritual, this time resolving. SDT and Ponder get countered but Petal and LED resolve. Tendrils for lethal! Two fetches get cracked to search for another Flusterstorm. After his second one he extends the hand!
Three bye's!
I still don't get why CB players play Flusterstorm in the sideboard. I had the same happen during GP Amsterdam. 11-2, facing off against the only CB player in the remaining players. I cast a second lethal Tendrils, he fetches, checks with SDT, swicthes and plays Flusterstorm. Do they really dislike stormcombo that they feel they need the extra hate or is it there for other decks as well?
I also don't like commander cards being legal in Legacy. The cards themself don't have a huge impact but both Ooze and Flusterstorm offer something unique. Due to thel being from Commander their prize is too high for what they do. Just look at Flusterstorm. Print this card at Rare in any set and it's worth 2 euro.
I drive home satisfied but a bit dissapointed that I only had to win 5 rounds to get Bye's.
My parents left on their holiday the day before and I was home alone, making sure the dog gets walked and so on. I had to make some calls to get someone to walk the dog. My sister said yes and off I was! I went to pick up Wim, who for once had his deck ready and didn't build during the car ride. He played the two previous tournaments, top8'ed once and was delighted about it. Whatever makes you happy I guess. Previous to that top8 he wasn't happy with the deck but now he doesn't stop playing Imperial Painter.
An hour long drive later and we arrive. I enrol and see only a handful of people. I sit down and write my decklist. Doomsday as usual! The maindeck is similar to the last time. Sideboard got adjusted a bit.
Maindeck:
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Tundra
1 Scrubland
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Chain of Vapor
4 Silence
3 Orim's Chant
1 Doomsday
1 Idea's Unbound
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Tendrils of Agony
3 Burning Wish
3 Infernal Tutor
Side:
3 Doomsday
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Thorn
1 Shelldock Isle
1 Massacre
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
1 Time Spiral
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Defense Grid
1 Virtue's Ruin
Jan showed up and informed me that he'd be playing Hypergenesis. Bit of an odd choice but he does what he wants. Only 20 people showed up, I was a bit dissapointed but it would still be 5 round Swiss and a top8.
Round1:
I'm paired against a player I know. I know him from a PTQ though, where he played monoRed. As he doesn't play Legacy I put him on the same deck, monoRed. I was correct.
Game1:
He opens with a turn1 Lavamancer. I play a Ponder. He casts Goblin Guide, smashes and casts Lava Spike. I play more setup spells for another turn. He casts Chain Lightning, attacks and activates Grim Lavamancer. I win through Infernal, Burning Wish into Ill-Gotten Gains.
I didn't really sideboard anything.
Game2:
He has a turn1 Goblin Guide which draws me a land. I play Ponder, put another land on top and discard because I hold 8 cards. He plays another Guide and hits for 4. I play SDT and pass. He attacks again and plays Magma Yet, having 1 mana open. I cast Probe and see nothing relevant, the game is won after Doomsday for IU, LED, Probe, LED, Burning Wish.
1-0-0. Not a hard matchup. Jan lost his match as did Wim.
Round2:
I saw the player play the round before against Jan. He is playing EsperBlade. I playtested this match and find myself to be favorite. The deck just applies no pressure. Even if it has a lot of disruption, without pressure I'll get there.
Game1:
He opens Island and passes. I cast SDT. He casts Brainstorm and follows it up with Stoneforge for Batterskull. I guess he doesn't play SoFaF. I cast Silence but it gets countered. He plays a land and passes. I cast Orim's Chant, resolves and I end the game. I can't recall how but I assume it was with Doomsday as I had SDT.
I sideboard out Ad Nauseam + some Petals and in comes Emrakul and extra DD's. Defense Grids swap out 2 Chants and I also make room for an extra Chain of Vapor.
Game2:
I open a hand with SDT, Ritual, Ritual, LED, Volcanic Island, Volcanic Island, Chain of Vapor. I think for a while, what if these were 2 other lands? In the end I decide that this should always be a mulligan against EsperBlade on the draw. A turn1 discard on SDT just nullifies the hand. My 6 are Burning Wish, Burning Wish, Ritual, SDT, 2 Fetch. He does indeed have the turn1 Thoughtseize and takes SDT. I topdeck SDT but he has the FoW for it. More discard happens and I'm stuck with 3 lands and 2 Burning Wish in hand. Another SDT gets countered once more. Some extra discard takes out one Burning Wish. Snapcaster into Thoughtseize. I reply with Ritual, Ad Nauseam but get countered. Thoughtseize takes the second Burning Wish.
Between Fow's, fetch and 3 Thoughtseize he is at 10 life. I naturally draw Tendrils of Agony, wait it out a bit more and eventually storm naturally for lethal.
2-0. A harder match but in my favor. Jan lost and dropped. Wim lost but as usual, keeps on playing.
Round3:
I'm paired against an unknown deck. I know the player from non-Legacy tournaments so I have no clue what he's playing. Turns out it's Merfolk. Not a deck I'd ever play but I consider it to be decent in the current meta.
Game1:
Turn1 Island doesn't mean a lot. I kept a slow hand and put him on a control deck so I play it slow and open with SDT. Turn2 Corralhelm Commander indicates Merfolk. I set up some more but am failing to find what I need. Lord of Atlantis and Mutavault join the party. I durdle a bit more and have to pass back. At a certain point I'm at 15 and he hits me for 14, putting me at 1 and negating the Doomsday and Ad Nauseam in hand which I lacked a Ritual for. He is holding 2 cards and I see Ritual, Infernal Tutor, Chant with SDT. I think for a while but can't grab the chant. I get Ritual, Infernal, cast some spells and mana for Infernal, Burning Wish into IGG for the win.
I don't sideboard anything.
Game2:
He has a quick start paired with some counter. I try to go off but he has enough counter to stop me and I'm quickly swimming with the fishes.
Game3:
Ponder, pass turn. Cursecatcher. Brainstorm, fetch pass turn. Lord of Atlantis, hit for 2. I fetch, draw, play land and cast Chant. Countered! i think for a while. Opponent holding 2 cards, me at 2 mana with Ritual, Ritual, Infernal, LED in hand. I can go for it around Cursecatcher and Daze with Ad Nauseam but lose against a Force of Will. I take the risk, Cursecatcher gets sacked somewhere but it's irrelevant, Nauseam resolves with a mana to spare. I flip down to 4 life and still need a Ritual, LED or Petal to win. Only card that kills me is Tendrils so I flip and it is..... a Petal. I cast probe just to make sure which draws me a LED. Easy win from that point with Petal, Petal, LED, LED, Infernal for Tendrils.
3-0. So that was a bit closer! But not a deck I expect to see often. 3-0 so I can draw into top8. The new rules allow the higher seed to choice play or draw in top8. With 3-0-2 I should be top4 so I'm fine with just drawing.
Round4:
I draw with Elfball and get something to eat.
Round5:
Opponent walks up to me, sais they are telling him to play but we are 1 and 2 so drawing is fine for him and he can go get some food. We do just that and he enjoys his meal.
Top8! Two Counterbalance Miracle, Merfolk, Elfball, RUGDelver, Two Sneaky Show and me. I'm paired with RUGDelver and my next round opponent would be one of the two CB Miracle decks who are against eachother. Great!
QF:
Also playtested this match. I feel this is depending on their fast opening but it sure is doable. I'm confidant about it because I know my opponent, another non regular Legacy player so he tends to make some mistakes.
Game1:
He mulligans to 6 but opens up with Delver after my Ponder. It gets flipped and joine dby a Mongoose and I dig some more. I cast Probe and see Bolt, Forked Bolt, Brainstorm, Tropical Island. I'm at 12, he has 4 cards in the graveyard. EOT I get bolted. I cast Silence during his upkeep, he reponds with Brainstorm, finds a Bolt and fetchland to deliver exactly lethal. I knew the odds were low and had to do it like this to go off the next turn. He got there.
I side in Defense Grids, out goes the Chain of Vapor and a Chant.
Game2:
No turn1 Delver this turn and my turn1 SDT resolved. Turn2 Grid gets a counter, turn3 Chant resolves and Doomsday finishes the job. I love that card!
I bring in the Chain of Vapors this time. I want to be able to slow a quick start down if necesarry by bouncing a Delver.
Game3:
Again no Delver but a turn1 Island into Brainstorm. I fetch Island and play Ponder which gets Dazed. Island gets replayed on his end and the Delver comes down. I play Defense Grid which resolves. Flip, Volcanic Island, Ponder and pass. I play some cantrips to set more stuff up. I get attacked again but no land drop. I'm completely safe due to Defense Grid and win with Doomsday.
Some mistakes on his end in game3 which made the game an easy victory. If he didn't find Bolt + Fetch with the Brainstorm game1 I would've won that one as well but that's magic!
SF:
As I said before, against CB Miracle. There are some differences in the lists. Once they finish their match my opponent asks for a few minutes. I don't mind and I talk with people. The other Semifinals has ended already, it will be the Merfolk player from round3 in the finals. He informs me that he already has 3 bye's and will concede.
Game1:
My opponent was higher seed so starts with island into SDT. I fetch Tundra into SDT. He uses SDT during upkeep so I know there's no CB. I do the same and follow it up with fetch. Again, no CB, 3rd land drop and pass. I fetch, see and try Silence during my turn. Force of Will. I can go for it and run the risk of another counter or wait a turn, play Chant then but run the risk of CB landing. I go with the CB plan which he doesn't have and doesn't find. I cast Chant which resolves and the game is over one Doomsday later.
I sideboard a lot. The entire Ad Nauseam package goes out. Bounce comes in, Emrakul comes in, Defense Grid comes in. I also side out Burning Wishes and bring in the 2nd Tendrils.
Game2:
Both open with SDT again but this time he does have the Counterbalance. I set up for a long game as I don't have enough black mana to hardcast Doomsday. It takes me a while to find a fetch to get BBB. He has Entreat the Angels for a CC of 3 whn I finally can cast Doomsday. Jace also comes down and slowly ticks up. I have a hand with Tendrils, Ritual, Ritual, Chant, Petal, LED, Ponder and my opponent at 18. I see Dark Ritual with SDT and my opponent has Jace at 13. I switch SDT during my upkeep, draw it and cast SDT. Opponent switches one of his two SDT's. I reply with Dark Ritual. Opponent thinks and decides on casting Flusterstorm on Dark Ritual. I notice that he is trying to deprive me of mana which won't be possible and I let Flusterstorm resolve, react to the SDT switch with another Ritual and he takes the bait with Snapcaster for Flusterstorm. I cast the third Ritual, this time resolving. SDT and Ponder get countered but Petal and LED resolve. Tendrils for lethal! Two fetches get cracked to search for another Flusterstorm. After his second one he extends the hand!
Three bye's!
I still don't get why CB players play Flusterstorm in the sideboard. I had the same happen during GP Amsterdam. 11-2, facing off against the only CB player in the remaining players. I cast a second lethal Tendrils, he fetches, checks with SDT, swicthes and plays Flusterstorm. Do they really dislike stormcombo that they feel they need the extra hate or is it there for other decks as well?
I also don't like commander cards being legal in Legacy. The cards themself don't have a huge impact but both Ooze and Flusterstorm offer something unique. Due to thel being from Commander their prize is too high for what they do. Just look at Flusterstorm. Print this card at Rare in any set and it's worth 2 euro.
I drive home satisfied but a bit dissapointed that I only had to win 5 rounds to get Bye's.