phazonmutant
07-05-2012, 10:20 PM
Hey guys! Back with a tournament report from GP Atlanta. I played Count Chocula (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?23888-Brainstorming-Griselbargain/) to Day 2. I was playing well all Day 1, but had a bit too much fun Saturday night and wasn't able to get my head back in the game Sunday.
Let me know if you want me to make a new thread with a primer for the deck in New and Developmental.
Decklist:
// Business
4 Griselbrand
3 Tendrils of Agony
// Fast Mana
4 Lotus Petal
2 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Show and Tell
// Card Quality
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
2 Preordain
2 Lim-Dul's Vault
// Protection
3 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
3 Daze
// Lands
4 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Marsh Flats
3 Underground Sea
3 Island
1 Swamp
// Sideboard
1 Slaughter Pact
3 Extirpate
1 Duress
1 Virtue's Ruin
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Spell Pierce
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away
2 Vendilion Clique
That's right, Show and Tell is lumped in with fast mana. It's basically a conditional +5 ritual. Pretty good, right?
The idea is to find a way to get Griselbrand in play, then either battle them to death with him or use him as a Yawgmoth's Bargain to Tendrils their face in as early as the first turn.
I've played around with a lot of different protection packages and ended up running the discard plan. It's a lot more live than slowing down a turn to have blue mana up with Pierce or trying to have an extra card in hand for Force of Will.
I didn't note what I boarded so I'll report that as best as I remember. I jotted down brief notes on what happened in game.
Alright, 15 round report (minus 1 bye) gogogo:
Round 2 - Goblins
I was pretty nervous about my deck choice and had been toying with audibling to Reanimator (I'd played it for a while a year ago), but decided to play the sweet deck that wouldn't face infinite hate. Round 2, I was facing what should have been a good matchup piloted by an incompetent player.
Game 1 - I kept a hand with a couple of cantrips and a Show and Tell, but after 4 cantrips I failed to find Griselbrand and my opponent figured out how to kill me turn 3.
I cut some Dazes and a Duress for Tendrils, Massacre Wurm, Slaughter Pact, and Chain since he was playing Cavern and I didn't see him board in more than 2 or 3 cards. Put him on REBs.
Game 2 - I blew through 6 cantrips over 4 turns and failed to find Griselbrand. I Tendrils'd him for 12 to buy some time with no cantrips left in hand, but he killed me from 27 in two attacks.
1-1 (0-2 games)
At this point I was feeling more than a little nervous about my deck, but got it together before the next round be reminding myself that I enjoyed playing the deck and I knew coming into the tournament that consistency is the deck's biggest weakness.
Round 3 - Merfolk
For some reason people were picking up crappy tribal decks for this tournament.
Game 1 - He had a slow double vial opener with not much going on (although he did "reveal" Coralhelm Commander to a Silvergill Adept he vialed in). I played around Cursecatcher from Vial on 1 and killed him on turn 3 or 4.
- some Dazes and a Chrome Mox for Pierce and a bounce spell or two
Game 2 - He had a fairly slow hand with Vial again and when I Duress'd away a Force of Will I saw that he had a Daze and a couple of Phantasmal Images but no men to copy. I also had a slow hand with some cantrips and discard. He ripped Silvergill into Reejeray and killed me from 15. I could have gone off with Tendrils a turn earlier but it wouldn't have killed him unless he played poorly. I should have realized with the 2 draws I didn't know about from Silvergill he was likely to draw a lord and deal massive damage, but didn't math.
Game 3 - He had a controlling hand (you think he'd learn by now!). I Duress'd away Force, leaving him with a Pierce and a Daze and some junk. I Show and Tell'd in Griselbrand, attempted to go off but don't find Tendrils, then killed him next turn.
2-1 (2-3)
Round 4 - Goblins
Again! My opponent mentioned she wasn't very experienced with the deck, so I was mentally pumping the fist.
Game 1 - I again couldn't find the kill in the 2 turns she gave me. However, I only showed blue fetches, basic Island, and infinite cantrips. So she obviously immediately shuffled and presented.
I boarded the same I think (might not have brought in Massacre Wurm because they kill too fast).
Game 2 - I had a fast hand with a turn 3 kill. I ritualed into Griselbrand and Tendril'd her for 20. I realized too late I punted by imprinting Show and Tell on Chrome Mox - she hadn't seen it yet, so it might encourage her to bring in REBs.
Game 3 - I had another turn 3 kill. I asked if she brought in REB and she was like "...oh". Didn't even pay attention to the Chrome Mox.
3-1 (4-4)
Round 5 - Burn
I had a lot of respect for this guy's sweet beta Mountains. Unfortunately, Burn is not even close to being equipped to deal with this deck.
Game 1 - He got me to 10, but I made a Griselbrand on turn 3ish and swung for lethal the next couple of turns. His Goblin Guide isn't even close to being good enough.
I saw him board in 5 or 6 cards, so I put him on some combination of REB, Sulfuric Vortex, or Pyrostatic Pillar. I boarded out my Thoughtseizes for bounce and Duress.
Game 2 - He got me very low this time - down to 6 - but couldn't stop my turn 4 Griselbrand. I didn't see any hate game 2.
4-1 (6-4)
Round 6 - U/W Stoneblade
I was pretty happy about this matchup. Stoneblade just doesn't put enough pressure or have enough disruption for me to care.
Game 1 - I'm a complete sack in this one. I was set to go off on turn 3 with him on the play, but then he Vendilion Clique'd me on my draw step. He obviously took Griselbrand, leaving Tendrils and enough rituals to get to 8. I very casually ripped another Griselbrand and immediately kill him.
I boarded out some Dazes and shave some mana and brought in Pierces and Duress.
Game 2 - This was a weird one. I cantriped a couple of times and decided to go on the double-tendrils plan becausee my hand is stacked with mana. I was looking for the second Tendrils, and fortunately my opponent gave me plenty of time. For a couple of turns I avoided discarding to hand size by playing lands and Lotus Petal, but then I drew Show and Tell to go along with my hand of Duress (saving it for the combo turn), Griselbrand, Tendrils, and 4 rituals. I guess I'll use Show and Tell as a 3-mana duress...but his hand was all air! Show and Tell resolved into his 3 or 4 open mana! I won immediately from there.
5-1 (8-4)
Round 7 - Esper Stoneblade - Ben Rassmussen
I know his name from somewhere...he was a good player and we had fun, interesting games.
Game 1 - He had a turn 1 discard spell and nabbed a cantrip, but I drew into more cantrips and Griselbrand to match the rituals in my hand. I Thoughtseize'd him a couple of times, dropped to 1 to draw 14, and killed him dead.
Game 2 - This was a long, grindy game where he drew lots of Extirpate effects. There was one sweet play on his part in particular. He had Thoughtseized me turn 1, taking a Duress and seeing another Duress and some rituals. I led on cantrip because Duress effects are super important to slowroll until you're either going off or right after they Stoneforge. On his second turn he played Stoneforge, which I thought was very loose. But on my draw step, he Surgical Extraction'd the Duress in my grave. I ended up taking a couple of Stoneforge + Sword of Feast and Famine hits, managed to drop Griselbrand with 1 card left in hand. I drew 7 but bricked on mana for Tendrils, and he swung back for lethal with a pro-black Stoneforge and a Creeping Tar Pit.
Game 3 - I mulliganed to 6 and kept a speculative hand of Petal, Brainstorm, Griselbrand, Show and Tell, Dark Ritual, Tendrils. It's an amazing hand if I can Brainstorm my way into lands, more likely than a good hand on 5 cards. Unfortunately, I bricked, and he's able to kill me with Vendilion Clique and Jace without me doing much of anything. I made my first land drop (which wasn't a black source to cast the rituals in my hand) on turn 4.
5-2 (9-6)
Round 8 - BUG Tempo
Dan was a great guy who rode down with the Hatfields (I believe). I didn't see Temporal Mastery from him, but I think it's safe to assume he had their tech. He had a ton of beautiful foils (foil Tombstalker looks so good!). His deckbox had a Swamp, he aggressively mulliganed to 5, and fit guys tend to be combo players in my experience, so I was joking with him that he was playing Reanimator.
Game 1 - I played a few cantrips and Thoughtseize'd a Force, but I was unable to kill him before his Goyf and Tombstalker kill me. At that point I had only showed him Daze, Island, Swamp.
He immediately pulled out 6 cards from his sideboard, so I was positive he had put me on Reanimator. I boarded out some Cabal Rituals and some Dazes for a bounce spell, Pierces, and the extra Duress.
Game 2 - I was a bit flooded, so I played Underground Sea on turn 1 in an attempt to timewalk him from Wasteland while I draw into my combo and protection. He drops a Tormod's Crypt, Wastes me, and I mentally pump the fist. We repeat that dance the next turn - I'm able to get value from my turns because I'm casting spells and he's not. He was also bricking on lands - his only lands were Wastelands. Eventually, I cantrip'd, thoughtseize'd him, went to 1 from Griselbrand, and killed him with Tendrils. He still hadn't seen Show and Tell I believe.
Game 3 - I had a fast hand and I attempted to go off turn 2, but he wisely Dazed me off blue when I cast Dark Ritual. His turn 1 Delver refused to flip and I Thoughtseize'd him off men when I saw he had no counterspells and killed him in a couple of turns.
6-2 (11-7)
Round 9 - Delver Counterburn
I was very happy to be playing against counterburn for Day 2. The deck can have some fast starts, but it doesn't actually have enough hard permission to stop me and has no way to beat a resolved Griselbrand.
Game 1 - I Pondered, he played something irrelevant, I Duressed, taking Force and Show and Telled Griselbrand into play. I went to 11 to try to kill him, but didn't find a Tendrils and figured it was safer to just try again in a couple of turns. I ended up swinging a couple of times and Tendrilsing for 6.
Game 2 - I had a turn 1 hand, but I threw it away! I Duressed before casting Dark Ritual because I was afraid of him Dazing the ritual, but I couldn't make both blue and black mana with the other IMSs. Anyway, he played Delver on turn 1, Brainstormed and bricked on lands turn 2, and I made a Griselbrand on my turn 2. He couldn't win from there.
7-2 (12-7)
Day 2! I was almost late to the first round because I had woken up at 8 and was feeling so nervous I was sick. But I pulled myself together, left my home at 8:50, and ran into the tournament hall at 9:02 just in time for the player meeting! Living in the middle of Atlanta definitely has its perks.
Round 10 - Delver Counterburn
I played a local guy. He was nice, but for UR to win that, they have to play pretty perfectly and he made some big mistakes.
Game 1 - He got me down below 10, but I was able to resolve Show and Tell and from that point, he couldn't attack with his men and I knew he doesn't have any burn spells in hand.
Game 2 - He boarded in a set of Surgical Extraction. I had a very tough decision with Brainstorm on turn 3ish - he 2 flipped Delvers in play and I had no hand information, I had 7 spells in hand including multiple rituals and a Tendrils, and brainstormed into Griselbrand, cantrip, land. I could get storm to 18 with what was in hand, but from testing, I had concluded that banking on my opponent attempting to counter a ritual to get storm to 10 was not worth it. That might have been wrong against that particular player. So I kept Griselbrand, played 2 Lotus Petals, Duress'd him seeing Surgical x2, Lightning Bolt, Brainstorm. He had Pondered on his turn. Surgical doesn't do too much against me so I just took Brainstorm (afterwards he told me he had Snapcaster and Force on top). I played Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual (7 cards in graveyard), he responded with Surgical on Dark Ritual, I responded with Cabal Ritual, and I got to 8 mana. He ended up Surgical Extracting my Cabal Ritual in response to Griselbrand, so I knew that the Tendrils kill is unlikely with no mana floating. I passed, he passed, I attacked, he double blocked and Bolted Griselbrand, I drew 7 and Griselbrand died. I had 3 Griselbrands, a Duress, Thoughtseize, and a Show and Tell with 3 lands and a Petal in play. I led on Duress, saw Snapcaster, and decided that my only reasonable chance to win is to hope he doesn't see Snapcaster on Surgical targetting Griselbrand, so I Thoughtseize'd him, he didn't see that line, and I pass. Next turn I made Griselbrand and he died. Interesting game.
8-2 (14-7)
Round 11 - "Patriot Act"
My opponent was on U/W/R counterburn with little beaters like Steppe Lynx, Delver, and Goblin Guide and Wasteland.
Game 1 - I had a reasonably fast start, and went for the kill on turn 3 with Duress backup taking his Force of Will.
Game 2 - I had a loose keep with 5 lands, a Preordain, and a Brainstorm. I fortunately drew another cantrip, but he had a fast turn 4 kill with Steppe Lynx and I can't find the pieces and protection fast enough.
Game 3 - I snap-mulliganned a terrible hand, drew an awesome hand with Show and Tell, Dark Ritual, and Griselbrand among other goodies, and then realized that I drew 7. Sigh. I called over a judge and one of the two cards that got shuffled in was Griselbrand. Couldn't find him again fast enough after he Dazed my Lim-Dul's Vault that I cast off of a Petal and an Island.
I was pretty demoralized that I lost from being clumsy and making a bad keep to put me out of contention for top 8.
8-3 (15-9)
Round 12 - Prison Affinity ("Balls of Steel")
His tournament report can be found here: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?24165-Balls-of-Steel-The-200-Solution
I had unfortunately decided to take the Rebuild out of my sideboard for this tournament since Stax is not consistent in a large tournament and I didn't have the certainty of facing a good local Stax player like in smaller tournaments.
Game 1 - I Pondered on my turn, then on his turn 1 he dropped Chalice on 1. That sucked. He got Sphere and crappy men in play over the next couple turns while I hoped to rip a Show and Tell for my Griselbrand. All I've shown him by the time I die is an Island, a Swamp, Chrome Mox imprinting Daze, and Lotus Petal.
I boarded out a couple Dark Rituals and a Tendrils and shaved numbers for some bounce and the Vendilion Cliques.
Game 2 - I had a good hand with Show and Tell, cantrips, and Cabal Rituals, but only 1 land. He got an early Sphere of Resistance and stared looting with Riddlesmith. 2 turns before I died, I had 2 lands in play and a Show and Tell, Chrome Mox, Wipe Away, Cabal Ritual x2 in hand, 6 cards in grave. I passed before I realized that my only out is to rip Griselbrand and I wouldn't have the right colors if I didn't play Chrome Mox the turn before. Obviously I rip Griselbrand for rub-ins.
8-4 (15-11)
Round 13 - Canadian Thresh
I was excited to be at table 12, but it was because my opponent had fixed seating - he was in a motorized wheelchair. Awesome, nice guy with strong playskills despite (or maybe because of) his mobility handicap. I had seen what he was playing and was fairly happy with the matchup - they can't beat a Griselbrand and we can play through their taxes.
Game 1 - I had a fast start to his aggro draw. I Duressed away the Force of Will and played Griselbrand on turn 3ish. Killed him immediately with Griselbrand.
Game 2 - I Duressed him early then dropped Griselbrand into play on turn 2 or 3. I made the unfortunate decision to activate Griselbrand to his open mana and 1-2 unknown cards, rationalizing that I hadn't seen stifle game 1. He obviously Stifled. Fortunately, I was left at a strong 11 life. I swung a couple times with Griselbrand, attempted to draw, got it Stifled, drew 14 cards anyway and killed him before he could draw his Gilded Drake.
9-4 (17-11)
Round 14 - Sneak and Show
My opponent was a nice guy who had the advantage of knowing what I was playing.
Game 1 - I cantripped a couple times to try to find the Griselbrand to complement my Show and Tell and rituals, but he dropped a turn 2 Griselbrand off Show and Tell and I couldn't win.
I wisely decided to not bring in any bounce, reasoning that if his men entered play, I was dead anyway.
Game 2 - He dropped a turn 0 Leyline of Sanctity. Oops. My 2 discards spells in hand and all the Tendrils in my deck were now dead. I almost won from his inexplicable play of Show and Tell on turn 2. I Dazed, he paid, I put in Griselbrand, he put in Ancient Tomb. Huh? Well, I simply battled and shipped. He Show and Tell'd again the next turn. I expected him to try to Legend Rule my Griselbrand so in response, I Lim-Dul's Vaulted for another Griselbrand and ended up dealing 5 to myself, then drew 7 instead of just waiting to ritual in Griselbrand next turn. He dropped Emrakul though. I realized that I have no way to live through Emrakul - I can sac 6 permanents and still have Griselbrand, but I was at less than 15. I also realized I was hella tired.
9-5 (17-13)
Round 15 - Dredge
I had mentally checked out since I was out of contention for anything and I had a Level 2 judge test to worry about after the round, so not a good mental state to play a complicated deck. This match featured particularly awful play on my part.
Game 1 - my opponent mulliganned to 4 and beat me on turn 4 regardless. I had a slower hand and make suboptimal cantrip decisions.
I boarded in my Extirpates and bounce for my fairly useless Duresses
Game 2 - I had a slower hand and decided to keep a second Extirpate and 2 lands off a ponder with no shuffles. I Extirpated his Narcomaebas and Ichorids, leaving him low on cards, but did nothing for a couple turns. He drew enough lands to cast Thug and started going to town with Cabal Therapy. He put Iona on black in play and I put Griselbrand in off Show and Tell. I tried to cast black spells a couple of times, couldn't find the bounce, and decided that I'm too tired to actually function, so I scooped.
9-6 (17-15) overall.
The deck is very, very strong, but will occasionally lose to itself when it can't find Griselbrand. Evaluating what line to take is very difficult and take experience. It's a blast, though! I think it's a legitimate contender given enough practice.
As far as why this deck over others:
ANT: ANT tries to grind out games, but it has a very linear game plan that's easily hated. This deck can function through discard better and has multiple lines.
TES: This deck's manabase is fantastic and you can very easily grind out games unlike TES. But that may not be a relevant attribute since TES is so good at winning quickly.
Reanimator: Reanimator is more color-intensive and much more easily hated. Relying on attacking with men is a dangerous plan nowadays.
Sneak and Show: This deck is usually faster than Sneak and Show and has multiple lines of attack that aren't shut down by common hate. However, Sneak and Show is more consistant overall and Sneak Attack is brutal.
This deck can easily power through Canadian Thresh, unlike other storm combo decks, is strong against Stoneforge Mystic control decks in general, and has enough raw power and consistency through 10 cantrips and 2 tutors to stop the random decks in the format. By far its worst matchup is to hateful men like Maverick and Junk, which is why I board in powerhouse cards against them (Virtue's Ruin is awesome).
If you have any thoughts on the deck or questions, please post here or in the thread!
Let me know if you want me to make a new thread with a primer for the deck in New and Developmental.
Decklist:
// Business
4 Griselbrand
3 Tendrils of Agony
// Fast Mana
4 Lotus Petal
2 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Show and Tell
// Card Quality
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
2 Preordain
2 Lim-Dul's Vault
// Protection
3 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
3 Daze
// Lands
4 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Marsh Flats
3 Underground Sea
3 Island
1 Swamp
// Sideboard
1 Slaughter Pact
3 Extirpate
1 Duress
1 Virtue's Ruin
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Spell Pierce
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away
2 Vendilion Clique
That's right, Show and Tell is lumped in with fast mana. It's basically a conditional +5 ritual. Pretty good, right?
The idea is to find a way to get Griselbrand in play, then either battle them to death with him or use him as a Yawgmoth's Bargain to Tendrils their face in as early as the first turn.
I've played around with a lot of different protection packages and ended up running the discard plan. It's a lot more live than slowing down a turn to have blue mana up with Pierce or trying to have an extra card in hand for Force of Will.
I didn't note what I boarded so I'll report that as best as I remember. I jotted down brief notes on what happened in game.
Alright, 15 round report (minus 1 bye) gogogo:
Round 2 - Goblins
I was pretty nervous about my deck choice and had been toying with audibling to Reanimator (I'd played it for a while a year ago), but decided to play the sweet deck that wouldn't face infinite hate. Round 2, I was facing what should have been a good matchup piloted by an incompetent player.
Game 1 - I kept a hand with a couple of cantrips and a Show and Tell, but after 4 cantrips I failed to find Griselbrand and my opponent figured out how to kill me turn 3.
I cut some Dazes and a Duress for Tendrils, Massacre Wurm, Slaughter Pact, and Chain since he was playing Cavern and I didn't see him board in more than 2 or 3 cards. Put him on REBs.
Game 2 - I blew through 6 cantrips over 4 turns and failed to find Griselbrand. I Tendrils'd him for 12 to buy some time with no cantrips left in hand, but he killed me from 27 in two attacks.
1-1 (0-2 games)
At this point I was feeling more than a little nervous about my deck, but got it together before the next round be reminding myself that I enjoyed playing the deck and I knew coming into the tournament that consistency is the deck's biggest weakness.
Round 3 - Merfolk
For some reason people were picking up crappy tribal decks for this tournament.
Game 1 - He had a slow double vial opener with not much going on (although he did "reveal" Coralhelm Commander to a Silvergill Adept he vialed in). I played around Cursecatcher from Vial on 1 and killed him on turn 3 or 4.
- some Dazes and a Chrome Mox for Pierce and a bounce spell or two
Game 2 - He had a fairly slow hand with Vial again and when I Duress'd away a Force of Will I saw that he had a Daze and a couple of Phantasmal Images but no men to copy. I also had a slow hand with some cantrips and discard. He ripped Silvergill into Reejeray and killed me from 15. I could have gone off with Tendrils a turn earlier but it wouldn't have killed him unless he played poorly. I should have realized with the 2 draws I didn't know about from Silvergill he was likely to draw a lord and deal massive damage, but didn't math.
Game 3 - He had a controlling hand (you think he'd learn by now!). I Duress'd away Force, leaving him with a Pierce and a Daze and some junk. I Show and Tell'd in Griselbrand, attempted to go off but don't find Tendrils, then killed him next turn.
2-1 (2-3)
Round 4 - Goblins
Again! My opponent mentioned she wasn't very experienced with the deck, so I was mentally pumping the fist.
Game 1 - I again couldn't find the kill in the 2 turns she gave me. However, I only showed blue fetches, basic Island, and infinite cantrips. So she obviously immediately shuffled and presented.
I boarded the same I think (might not have brought in Massacre Wurm because they kill too fast).
Game 2 - I had a fast hand with a turn 3 kill. I ritualed into Griselbrand and Tendril'd her for 20. I realized too late I punted by imprinting Show and Tell on Chrome Mox - she hadn't seen it yet, so it might encourage her to bring in REBs.
Game 3 - I had another turn 3 kill. I asked if she brought in REB and she was like "...oh". Didn't even pay attention to the Chrome Mox.
3-1 (4-4)
Round 5 - Burn
I had a lot of respect for this guy's sweet beta Mountains. Unfortunately, Burn is not even close to being equipped to deal with this deck.
Game 1 - He got me to 10, but I made a Griselbrand on turn 3ish and swung for lethal the next couple of turns. His Goblin Guide isn't even close to being good enough.
I saw him board in 5 or 6 cards, so I put him on some combination of REB, Sulfuric Vortex, or Pyrostatic Pillar. I boarded out my Thoughtseizes for bounce and Duress.
Game 2 - He got me very low this time - down to 6 - but couldn't stop my turn 4 Griselbrand. I didn't see any hate game 2.
4-1 (6-4)
Round 6 - U/W Stoneblade
I was pretty happy about this matchup. Stoneblade just doesn't put enough pressure or have enough disruption for me to care.
Game 1 - I'm a complete sack in this one. I was set to go off on turn 3 with him on the play, but then he Vendilion Clique'd me on my draw step. He obviously took Griselbrand, leaving Tendrils and enough rituals to get to 8. I very casually ripped another Griselbrand and immediately kill him.
I boarded out some Dazes and shave some mana and brought in Pierces and Duress.
Game 2 - This was a weird one. I cantriped a couple of times and decided to go on the double-tendrils plan becausee my hand is stacked with mana. I was looking for the second Tendrils, and fortunately my opponent gave me plenty of time. For a couple of turns I avoided discarding to hand size by playing lands and Lotus Petal, but then I drew Show and Tell to go along with my hand of Duress (saving it for the combo turn), Griselbrand, Tendrils, and 4 rituals. I guess I'll use Show and Tell as a 3-mana duress...but his hand was all air! Show and Tell resolved into his 3 or 4 open mana! I won immediately from there.
5-1 (8-4)
Round 7 - Esper Stoneblade - Ben Rassmussen
I know his name from somewhere...he was a good player and we had fun, interesting games.
Game 1 - He had a turn 1 discard spell and nabbed a cantrip, but I drew into more cantrips and Griselbrand to match the rituals in my hand. I Thoughtseize'd him a couple of times, dropped to 1 to draw 14, and killed him dead.
Game 2 - This was a long, grindy game where he drew lots of Extirpate effects. There was one sweet play on his part in particular. He had Thoughtseized me turn 1, taking a Duress and seeing another Duress and some rituals. I led on cantrip because Duress effects are super important to slowroll until you're either going off or right after they Stoneforge. On his second turn he played Stoneforge, which I thought was very loose. But on my draw step, he Surgical Extraction'd the Duress in my grave. I ended up taking a couple of Stoneforge + Sword of Feast and Famine hits, managed to drop Griselbrand with 1 card left in hand. I drew 7 but bricked on mana for Tendrils, and he swung back for lethal with a pro-black Stoneforge and a Creeping Tar Pit.
Game 3 - I mulliganed to 6 and kept a speculative hand of Petal, Brainstorm, Griselbrand, Show and Tell, Dark Ritual, Tendrils. It's an amazing hand if I can Brainstorm my way into lands, more likely than a good hand on 5 cards. Unfortunately, I bricked, and he's able to kill me with Vendilion Clique and Jace without me doing much of anything. I made my first land drop (which wasn't a black source to cast the rituals in my hand) on turn 4.
5-2 (9-6)
Round 8 - BUG Tempo
Dan was a great guy who rode down with the Hatfields (I believe). I didn't see Temporal Mastery from him, but I think it's safe to assume he had their tech. He had a ton of beautiful foils (foil Tombstalker looks so good!). His deckbox had a Swamp, he aggressively mulliganed to 5, and fit guys tend to be combo players in my experience, so I was joking with him that he was playing Reanimator.
Game 1 - I played a few cantrips and Thoughtseize'd a Force, but I was unable to kill him before his Goyf and Tombstalker kill me. At that point I had only showed him Daze, Island, Swamp.
He immediately pulled out 6 cards from his sideboard, so I was positive he had put me on Reanimator. I boarded out some Cabal Rituals and some Dazes for a bounce spell, Pierces, and the extra Duress.
Game 2 - I was a bit flooded, so I played Underground Sea on turn 1 in an attempt to timewalk him from Wasteland while I draw into my combo and protection. He drops a Tormod's Crypt, Wastes me, and I mentally pump the fist. We repeat that dance the next turn - I'm able to get value from my turns because I'm casting spells and he's not. He was also bricking on lands - his only lands were Wastelands. Eventually, I cantrip'd, thoughtseize'd him, went to 1 from Griselbrand, and killed him with Tendrils. He still hadn't seen Show and Tell I believe.
Game 3 - I had a fast hand and I attempted to go off turn 2, but he wisely Dazed me off blue when I cast Dark Ritual. His turn 1 Delver refused to flip and I Thoughtseize'd him off men when I saw he had no counterspells and killed him in a couple of turns.
6-2 (11-7)
Round 9 - Delver Counterburn
I was very happy to be playing against counterburn for Day 2. The deck can have some fast starts, but it doesn't actually have enough hard permission to stop me and has no way to beat a resolved Griselbrand.
Game 1 - I Pondered, he played something irrelevant, I Duressed, taking Force and Show and Telled Griselbrand into play. I went to 11 to try to kill him, but didn't find a Tendrils and figured it was safer to just try again in a couple of turns. I ended up swinging a couple of times and Tendrilsing for 6.
Game 2 - I had a turn 1 hand, but I threw it away! I Duressed before casting Dark Ritual because I was afraid of him Dazing the ritual, but I couldn't make both blue and black mana with the other IMSs. Anyway, he played Delver on turn 1, Brainstormed and bricked on lands turn 2, and I made a Griselbrand on my turn 2. He couldn't win from there.
7-2 (12-7)
Day 2! I was almost late to the first round because I had woken up at 8 and was feeling so nervous I was sick. But I pulled myself together, left my home at 8:50, and ran into the tournament hall at 9:02 just in time for the player meeting! Living in the middle of Atlanta definitely has its perks.
Round 10 - Delver Counterburn
I played a local guy. He was nice, but for UR to win that, they have to play pretty perfectly and he made some big mistakes.
Game 1 - He got me down below 10, but I was able to resolve Show and Tell and from that point, he couldn't attack with his men and I knew he doesn't have any burn spells in hand.
Game 2 - He boarded in a set of Surgical Extraction. I had a very tough decision with Brainstorm on turn 3ish - he 2 flipped Delvers in play and I had no hand information, I had 7 spells in hand including multiple rituals and a Tendrils, and brainstormed into Griselbrand, cantrip, land. I could get storm to 18 with what was in hand, but from testing, I had concluded that banking on my opponent attempting to counter a ritual to get storm to 10 was not worth it. That might have been wrong against that particular player. So I kept Griselbrand, played 2 Lotus Petals, Duress'd him seeing Surgical x2, Lightning Bolt, Brainstorm. He had Pondered on his turn. Surgical doesn't do too much against me so I just took Brainstorm (afterwards he told me he had Snapcaster and Force on top). I played Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual (7 cards in graveyard), he responded with Surgical on Dark Ritual, I responded with Cabal Ritual, and I got to 8 mana. He ended up Surgical Extracting my Cabal Ritual in response to Griselbrand, so I knew that the Tendrils kill is unlikely with no mana floating. I passed, he passed, I attacked, he double blocked and Bolted Griselbrand, I drew 7 and Griselbrand died. I had 3 Griselbrands, a Duress, Thoughtseize, and a Show and Tell with 3 lands and a Petal in play. I led on Duress, saw Snapcaster, and decided that my only reasonable chance to win is to hope he doesn't see Snapcaster on Surgical targetting Griselbrand, so I Thoughtseize'd him, he didn't see that line, and I pass. Next turn I made Griselbrand and he died. Interesting game.
8-2 (14-7)
Round 11 - "Patriot Act"
My opponent was on U/W/R counterburn with little beaters like Steppe Lynx, Delver, and Goblin Guide and Wasteland.
Game 1 - I had a reasonably fast start, and went for the kill on turn 3 with Duress backup taking his Force of Will.
Game 2 - I had a loose keep with 5 lands, a Preordain, and a Brainstorm. I fortunately drew another cantrip, but he had a fast turn 4 kill with Steppe Lynx and I can't find the pieces and protection fast enough.
Game 3 - I snap-mulliganned a terrible hand, drew an awesome hand with Show and Tell, Dark Ritual, and Griselbrand among other goodies, and then realized that I drew 7. Sigh. I called over a judge and one of the two cards that got shuffled in was Griselbrand. Couldn't find him again fast enough after he Dazed my Lim-Dul's Vault that I cast off of a Petal and an Island.
I was pretty demoralized that I lost from being clumsy and making a bad keep to put me out of contention for top 8.
8-3 (15-9)
Round 12 - Prison Affinity ("Balls of Steel")
His tournament report can be found here: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?24165-Balls-of-Steel-The-200-Solution
I had unfortunately decided to take the Rebuild out of my sideboard for this tournament since Stax is not consistent in a large tournament and I didn't have the certainty of facing a good local Stax player like in smaller tournaments.
Game 1 - I Pondered on my turn, then on his turn 1 he dropped Chalice on 1. That sucked. He got Sphere and crappy men in play over the next couple turns while I hoped to rip a Show and Tell for my Griselbrand. All I've shown him by the time I die is an Island, a Swamp, Chrome Mox imprinting Daze, and Lotus Petal.
I boarded out a couple Dark Rituals and a Tendrils and shaved numbers for some bounce and the Vendilion Cliques.
Game 2 - I had a good hand with Show and Tell, cantrips, and Cabal Rituals, but only 1 land. He got an early Sphere of Resistance and stared looting with Riddlesmith. 2 turns before I died, I had 2 lands in play and a Show and Tell, Chrome Mox, Wipe Away, Cabal Ritual x2 in hand, 6 cards in grave. I passed before I realized that my only out is to rip Griselbrand and I wouldn't have the right colors if I didn't play Chrome Mox the turn before. Obviously I rip Griselbrand for rub-ins.
8-4 (15-11)
Round 13 - Canadian Thresh
I was excited to be at table 12, but it was because my opponent had fixed seating - he was in a motorized wheelchair. Awesome, nice guy with strong playskills despite (or maybe because of) his mobility handicap. I had seen what he was playing and was fairly happy with the matchup - they can't beat a Griselbrand and we can play through their taxes.
Game 1 - I had a fast start to his aggro draw. I Duressed away the Force of Will and played Griselbrand on turn 3ish. Killed him immediately with Griselbrand.
Game 2 - I Duressed him early then dropped Griselbrand into play on turn 2 or 3. I made the unfortunate decision to activate Griselbrand to his open mana and 1-2 unknown cards, rationalizing that I hadn't seen stifle game 1. He obviously Stifled. Fortunately, I was left at a strong 11 life. I swung a couple times with Griselbrand, attempted to draw, got it Stifled, drew 14 cards anyway and killed him before he could draw his Gilded Drake.
9-4 (17-11)
Round 14 - Sneak and Show
My opponent was a nice guy who had the advantage of knowing what I was playing.
Game 1 - I cantripped a couple times to try to find the Griselbrand to complement my Show and Tell and rituals, but he dropped a turn 2 Griselbrand off Show and Tell and I couldn't win.
I wisely decided to not bring in any bounce, reasoning that if his men entered play, I was dead anyway.
Game 2 - He dropped a turn 0 Leyline of Sanctity. Oops. My 2 discards spells in hand and all the Tendrils in my deck were now dead. I almost won from his inexplicable play of Show and Tell on turn 2. I Dazed, he paid, I put in Griselbrand, he put in Ancient Tomb. Huh? Well, I simply battled and shipped. He Show and Tell'd again the next turn. I expected him to try to Legend Rule my Griselbrand so in response, I Lim-Dul's Vaulted for another Griselbrand and ended up dealing 5 to myself, then drew 7 instead of just waiting to ritual in Griselbrand next turn. He dropped Emrakul though. I realized that I have no way to live through Emrakul - I can sac 6 permanents and still have Griselbrand, but I was at less than 15. I also realized I was hella tired.
9-5 (17-13)
Round 15 - Dredge
I had mentally checked out since I was out of contention for anything and I had a Level 2 judge test to worry about after the round, so not a good mental state to play a complicated deck. This match featured particularly awful play on my part.
Game 1 - my opponent mulliganned to 4 and beat me on turn 4 regardless. I had a slower hand and make suboptimal cantrip decisions.
I boarded in my Extirpates and bounce for my fairly useless Duresses
Game 2 - I had a slower hand and decided to keep a second Extirpate and 2 lands off a ponder with no shuffles. I Extirpated his Narcomaebas and Ichorids, leaving him low on cards, but did nothing for a couple turns. He drew enough lands to cast Thug and started going to town with Cabal Therapy. He put Iona on black in play and I put Griselbrand in off Show and Tell. I tried to cast black spells a couple of times, couldn't find the bounce, and decided that I'm too tired to actually function, so I scooped.
9-6 (17-15) overall.
The deck is very, very strong, but will occasionally lose to itself when it can't find Griselbrand. Evaluating what line to take is very difficult and take experience. It's a blast, though! I think it's a legitimate contender given enough practice.
As far as why this deck over others:
ANT: ANT tries to grind out games, but it has a very linear game plan that's easily hated. This deck can function through discard better and has multiple lines.
TES: This deck's manabase is fantastic and you can very easily grind out games unlike TES. But that may not be a relevant attribute since TES is so good at winning quickly.
Reanimator: Reanimator is more color-intensive and much more easily hated. Relying on attacking with men is a dangerous plan nowadays.
Sneak and Show: This deck is usually faster than Sneak and Show and has multiple lines of attack that aren't shut down by common hate. However, Sneak and Show is more consistant overall and Sneak Attack is brutal.
This deck can easily power through Canadian Thresh, unlike other storm combo decks, is strong against Stoneforge Mystic control decks in general, and has enough raw power and consistency through 10 cantrips and 2 tutors to stop the random decks in the format. By far its worst matchup is to hateful men like Maverick and Junk, which is why I board in powerhouse cards against them (Virtue's Ruin is awesome).
If you have any thoughts on the deck or questions, please post here or in the thread!