cuthbertthecat
08-14-2012, 04:28 AM
A bit of backstory, for those of you who aren't into that sort of thing feel free to skip to the matches:
The car ride from Minneapolis to Kansas City is about 6 hours. Through Iowa. Fuck Iowa. How can any one state be that boring? It truly boggles my mind. Why would one state need that much corn? There is no good reason. There is, however, a chain of gas stations called Kum and Go, which amused my inner middle schooler to a great extent, so all in all Iowa is one for one. Missouri, on the other hand, is approximately zero for infinity. The entire state looks like dog shit, with the exception of the convention center which Missouri politicians use to lure in unsuspecting residents, and you get the sneaking suspicion at every gas station that the cashier is in a relationship with a first cousin. Unfortunately, our hotel and the event were located in this cesspool, so we had to be strong. We got to our motel in the seventh layer of hell at around 3:00 am and waited in the waiting room with a couple who looked eerily similar to each other. We got into our rooms at about 3:30, with myself falling asleep at about 5:00 because the seventh layer of hell is quite warm. We get up at 7:30, enjoy a breakfast crafted from brimstone, and we're off to the event. The people in our car were running: Lands(me), U/W/r Miracleblade (Kobie, eventual event winner), U/B/r ANT (Dylan, 14th place), RUG Delver (Bennet), U/W Miracleblade (Brad) Lands Part II (Travis), and Steve, who didn't play but who I presumed was along because he had never been in hell and wanted to experience it. After having an internal debate with myself on whether or not murdering burn is worth running a COP-Red in the board, I decide to play engineered explosives number two instead. It doesn't come back to bite me. Soon enough, seatings are up, on the way to which Kirby Kaufman (randomgestures on the source) spots me. We engage in a brohug, the perfect way to start any event. Anywho, the matches. Also, my decklist:
Artifacts
1 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Cursed Totem
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Mox Diamond
1 Zuran Orb
Enchantments
4 Exploration
2 Manabond
Instants
3 Enlightened Tutor
3 Intuition
Sorceries
4 Life from the Loam
Basic Lands
1 Forest
Lands
1 Bayou
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Glacial Chasm
4 Maze of Ith
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Rishadan Port
1 Savannah
3 Tolaria West
2 Tranquil Thicket
3 Tropical Island
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
2 Wooded Foothills
Legendary Lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Karakas
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Sideboard:
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Tormod's Crypt
4 Dark Confidant
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Mishra's Factory
(On a sidenote, I won all of my die rolls on the day until top 8, where I was on the draw every round. It didn't seem to matter too much)
Round 1: Brad Kirk with Merfolk
Game 1: Brad strikes me as a good player, so I make a note to myself to play as well as possible. However, his start of turn 1 Island, Aether Vial, means he's on fish and I'm on mono-maze of ith and ensnaring bridge stompy. Fair fight. Eventually, I get an ensnaring bridge in play after gaining some life off Zuran Orb. I have 3 cards in hand, but he has 3 lords so none of his guys can attack. He casts a standstill, but thankfully I have an enlightened tutor to break it and make him draw three instead of me which would have made his guys able to attack. I make the mistake of playing a tabernacle with 3 cards in hand which would have let him kill one of his lords and alpha me for lethal, but I realize my mistake immediately and sacrifice the Tabernacle to Zuran Orb. Eventually I hit Explorations and Crucible, and he scoops when I start Ghost Quartering him out with a hellbent Ensnaring Bridge and Tabernacle in play.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, +4 Dark Confidant, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Oblivion Stone
Game 2: My memory is a bit hazy on this one, but I know it ended with Bob and Factory beats while recurring Engineered Explosives.
Round 2: Mike Pearson with Death and Taxes
Game 1: He has some early aggression in the form of Phyrexian Revokers naming Mox Diamond and Zuran Orb. I decide to develop my mana rather than play my Mazes. I eventually hit an Enlightened Tutor for Manabond and get to go crazy, he concedes when I have Explosives lock with Cursed Totem in play to stop Mangara.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, +4 Dark Confidant, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Oblivion Stone (I boarded out the Cursed Totem because it only stops Mangara and I figured I could tutor for Karakas to prevent it or at least Wasteland for his Karakases to stop him from recurring it).
Game 2: He has a turn 1 Aether Vial off Rishadan Port, I have 2 Mox Diamonds into Loam into Exploration into Wasteland on Port. He bricks on land for a turn, I eventually dredge up a Tolaria West which gets me everything I need, the game ends with four Maze of Ith in play and Explosives and Oblivion Stone lock in graveyard. My opponent made some play mistakes this match, including Vialing in Flickerwisp in response to me using Explosives on 1 and exiling my Exploration, presumably because he forgot it had converted cost of 1. This was not a game losing error on his part, I already had good control over the board.
Round 3: Matt Llilly with an Esper Stoneblade variant
Game 1: I don't think he was playing countermagic outside of the Stifle that his Dark Confidant revealed. This game is over fast with me having Wasteland, Tolaria West, Manabond, and Loam.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: He plays turn one Island, Chrome Mox, Bitterblossom. I mental fist pump, as my win condition is in play already. I play a turn one Dark Confidant off a Mox Diamond. My memory is a bit hazy up until the point where I have 4 Explorations, Crucible, and Zuran Orb in play, but then the game turns into the exact type of grind I love to play. My opponent doesn't concede so I start Wastelocking him with Tabernacle and beat him down with Thalia, Dark Confidant, and Mishra's Factory. At one point, he surgicals my Loams and is looking through my deck while admiring how unfair Thalia is in a deck like this. True statement sir.
Round 4: Kyle Smith with Merfolk
Game 1: My opponent was talking to me during shuffling last round about how he likes lands as a deck, I decide he's an alright kind of guy. However, my turn 1 Manabond with Loam is met by turn 1 Island, Aether Vial, and he concedes after I transmute Tolaria West several times.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, +4 Dark Confidant, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Oblivion Stone
Game 2: My keep is slightly loose which lets him get in some early beats. I am stable at one point, but he has a Merrow Reejery in play for my Maze if he draws a merfolk. I could play Glacial Chasm to play around this, but it would've hindered my mana at the time and I would have been able to dredge loam for West next turn and get another Maze. He draws Lord of Atlantis, and I die. He was on something like a 20-outer, I should have probably played around it.
Game 3: My opponent mulligans to 5 and has no answer to Dark Confidant. He takes the game away in a quick fashion.
My opponent was a good player and complimented my plays several times throughout the match. A very good sport and an all around cool guy.
Round 5: Austin Fritz with Maverick
Game 1: I keep a hand with Ensnaring Bridge and Enlightened Tutor, I play fetchland and pass, hoping my opponent is on Maverick. His turn 1 play is Savannah, Noble Hierarch, I gleefully fetch my Savannah and tutor for Cursed Totem. I play Mox Diamond and Wasteland on my turn, locking out all of his mana. Eventually I get hellbent Ensnaring Bridge in play with a Cursed Totem along with several Maze of Iths to stop his exalted Noble Hierarchs. That's a hard lock against Maverick, and we're off to game 2.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Mishra's Factory, +4 Dark Confidant, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Oblivion Stone
Game 2: I keep a slower hand that ends up stabilizing at 1 life after Fauna Shaman gets a ton of Faerie Macabres to meddle with my plans. I'm facing 3 lethal attackers with 3 mazes and a zuran orb. I think that the only way I can lose is to Krosan Grip and Wateland, he has one card in hand. He draws for turn, casts Krosan Grip and plays Wasteland. Touche sir, touche. I make a note to myself to start playing around ridiculous scenarios I create in my head to avoid blowouts.
Game 3: I turn 1 a Dark Confidant and Wasteland him off of non-Bojuka Bog mana. Bob beats get there.
Alright, win-and-in time. I'm notoriously awful at them, my last one resulting in me getting paired against Spiral Tide at GP Indy.
Round 6: Chris Bechtoldt with U/W Stoneblade
Game 1: For some reason, my opponent strikes me as a Spiral Tide player. My turn 1 play is an Exploration that resolves, his is Island, go. Oh dear. I Loam for fetches and prepare to take a reaming. I almost jump out of my seat when his turn 2 play is Plains, Stoneforge Mystic. I dredge Loam into a Port, then into a Tolaria West for Ghost Quarter that gets all of his basics. I note that he's playing 5, and we go to game 2.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: I mulligan into a suboptimal hand with a Bob, he has turn 1 Relic. I get my Bob Plowed, which makes me think my opponent is either very good or very bad. I settle on the former as he is 5-0. I durdle around, don't really do anything and concede to his Jace to save time.
Game 3: I have an early Thalia that he doesn't deal with until very late; I spend these turns drawing the other two Thalias and fetchlands. He eventually gets Jace going and gets to put my Creeping Tar Pit on bottom. Ouch. He has Stoneforge, Batterskull and Snapcaster to block for Jace, and my library gets exiled.
Ok, win and in part 2. I'm slightly less comfortable at this point as I know at least two ANT decks are in my bracket, but so are a lot of RUG decks. I meet up with Kirby, he's 5-1 also. We brohug, and we're off.
Round 7: Xavier Haron with U/W Miracles
Game 1: A fast Loam with Explorations take it down, he concedes when I start recurring Ghost Quarters with 2 Explorations.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: He has turn 1 Tundra, Relic. I Wasteland, he plays turn 2 Wasteland. I Wasteland again. He plays nothing. I get a fetch into play, he again plays nothing. I play a Thalia that resolves. I find several Ports by the time he makes land drops, he ends the game having cast 1 spell.
Round 8: Aaron Marasco
We I.D. as we are under the impression that our breakers are good enough. Turns out that they were not quite good enough, I barely get in at 8th seed, him getting 9th. Sorry man, it was entirely unintentional :(
Quarterfinals: Andrew Lozano with RUG
Game 1: I am put on the back foot quickly by 2 Nimble Mongeese. I stabilize at one point with Glacial Chasm and Zuran Orb, but he Thought Scours, hitting his one-of Life from the Loam, Loaming back Wasteland for Chasm and killing me. I now know what its like to be on the other side of the Loam game, and we're off to game 2.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Chalice of the Void, +1 Tormod's Crypt, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: I am able to cripple his mana with a quick burst of Wastelands, the game ends with my 2 Mishra's Factories racing his Goyf.
Game 3: This game is the longest grind of a game I have played in some time, it was great. I get a chalice on 1 and 2 in play, an ensnaring bridge, a crucible, and a zuran orb while he has a Scavenging Ooze. My original plan is to deck him with Ruins, getting him to tap a green to Ooze an artifact and wasting him off his other green sources, but his Green Sun's Zenith ruined that plan. Instead, I had to wait until I had more Ports/Wastelands than he had untapped green sources, waste/port them all, and have a wasteland left in graveyard to recur with crucible while he had no green. It happens eventually, and he dies with no permanents to me attacking with Tar Pit and 2 Factories, Mazing one Factory 4 times, and responding to each untap with the +1 ability targeting the still attacking Mishra's Factory. Unnecessary? Yes. Cool? Definitely.
Semifinals: David Thomas with Esper Stoneblade
Game 1: David tells me that this matchup is unwinnable for him because he doesn't run Wastelands. I keep a hand that is a lot of mana denial and Explorations and eventually draw a Loam. He concedes when I transmute Tolaria West for Maze of Ith.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: I get the game locked up while at low life from Batterskull beats, but I forget to pay my Tabernacle trigger for my Thalia while she was a necessary blocker. I lose shortly thereafter.
Game 3: My opponent concedes to my disgusting double Exploration, Wasteland, Loam start.
Finals: Kobie Spaeth with UWR Miracleblade
Game 1: I get a good hand for against blue involving Rishadan Port and Intition. I port him during his draw steps because he has a Top in play and doing that doesn't allow him to choose which card he draws for turn with the Ported Mana. One of the turns I do this, he taps out to Clique me, to which I respond with Intuition. While searching, I realize that I forgot to de-sideboard my second Mishra's Factory from last round. I call a Judge, they issue me a game loss. However, if the Intuition had resolved, I would have searched 2 Loams and Tolaria West, this prevents him from using Clique to get rid of Loam.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: He Surgicals my Wastelands, Loams, and Explorations. With my key engine missing, I casually murder him with manlands. I tell him he should feel embarrassed, he does.
Game 3: I mull to a 6 that is lands and 2 Mox Diamonds. Not good by any means but I dislike mulligans. I get a topdecked Bob Plowed and eventually die to Jace. Ouch.
It was a pretty sweet tournament, I think Lands was very well positioned as Merfolk and Stoneblade were both very popular. As for the deck, I like it how it is currently, though I could understand putting the sideboard O-Stone in the main over the Cursed Totem. The sideboard Thalias are amazing and degenerate, a deck with as much mana denial as this one utilizes that effect very well.
Thanks for reading, and stay the hell out of Missouri.
The car ride from Minneapolis to Kansas City is about 6 hours. Through Iowa. Fuck Iowa. How can any one state be that boring? It truly boggles my mind. Why would one state need that much corn? There is no good reason. There is, however, a chain of gas stations called Kum and Go, which amused my inner middle schooler to a great extent, so all in all Iowa is one for one. Missouri, on the other hand, is approximately zero for infinity. The entire state looks like dog shit, with the exception of the convention center which Missouri politicians use to lure in unsuspecting residents, and you get the sneaking suspicion at every gas station that the cashier is in a relationship with a first cousin. Unfortunately, our hotel and the event were located in this cesspool, so we had to be strong. We got to our motel in the seventh layer of hell at around 3:00 am and waited in the waiting room with a couple who looked eerily similar to each other. We got into our rooms at about 3:30, with myself falling asleep at about 5:00 because the seventh layer of hell is quite warm. We get up at 7:30, enjoy a breakfast crafted from brimstone, and we're off to the event. The people in our car were running: Lands(me), U/W/r Miracleblade (Kobie, eventual event winner), U/B/r ANT (Dylan, 14th place), RUG Delver (Bennet), U/W Miracleblade (Brad) Lands Part II (Travis), and Steve, who didn't play but who I presumed was along because he had never been in hell and wanted to experience it. After having an internal debate with myself on whether or not murdering burn is worth running a COP-Red in the board, I decide to play engineered explosives number two instead. It doesn't come back to bite me. Soon enough, seatings are up, on the way to which Kirby Kaufman (randomgestures on the source) spots me. We engage in a brohug, the perfect way to start any event. Anywho, the matches. Also, my decklist:
Artifacts
1 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Cursed Totem
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Mox Diamond
1 Zuran Orb
Enchantments
4 Exploration
2 Manabond
Instants
3 Enlightened Tutor
3 Intuition
Sorceries
4 Life from the Loam
Basic Lands
1 Forest
Lands
1 Bayou
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Glacial Chasm
4 Maze of Ith
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Rishadan Port
1 Savannah
3 Tolaria West
2 Tranquil Thicket
3 Tropical Island
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
2 Wooded Foothills
Legendary Lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Karakas
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Sideboard:
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Tormod's Crypt
4 Dark Confidant
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Mishra's Factory
(On a sidenote, I won all of my die rolls on the day until top 8, where I was on the draw every round. It didn't seem to matter too much)
Round 1: Brad Kirk with Merfolk
Game 1: Brad strikes me as a good player, so I make a note to myself to play as well as possible. However, his start of turn 1 Island, Aether Vial, means he's on fish and I'm on mono-maze of ith and ensnaring bridge stompy. Fair fight. Eventually, I get an ensnaring bridge in play after gaining some life off Zuran Orb. I have 3 cards in hand, but he has 3 lords so none of his guys can attack. He casts a standstill, but thankfully I have an enlightened tutor to break it and make him draw three instead of me which would have made his guys able to attack. I make the mistake of playing a tabernacle with 3 cards in hand which would have let him kill one of his lords and alpha me for lethal, but I realize my mistake immediately and sacrifice the Tabernacle to Zuran Orb. Eventually I hit Explorations and Crucible, and he scoops when I start Ghost Quartering him out with a hellbent Ensnaring Bridge and Tabernacle in play.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, +4 Dark Confidant, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Oblivion Stone
Game 2: My memory is a bit hazy on this one, but I know it ended with Bob and Factory beats while recurring Engineered Explosives.
Round 2: Mike Pearson with Death and Taxes
Game 1: He has some early aggression in the form of Phyrexian Revokers naming Mox Diamond and Zuran Orb. I decide to develop my mana rather than play my Mazes. I eventually hit an Enlightened Tutor for Manabond and get to go crazy, he concedes when I have Explosives lock with Cursed Totem in play to stop Mangara.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, +4 Dark Confidant, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Oblivion Stone (I boarded out the Cursed Totem because it only stops Mangara and I figured I could tutor for Karakas to prevent it or at least Wasteland for his Karakases to stop him from recurring it).
Game 2: He has a turn 1 Aether Vial off Rishadan Port, I have 2 Mox Diamonds into Loam into Exploration into Wasteland on Port. He bricks on land for a turn, I eventually dredge up a Tolaria West which gets me everything I need, the game ends with four Maze of Ith in play and Explosives and Oblivion Stone lock in graveyard. My opponent made some play mistakes this match, including Vialing in Flickerwisp in response to me using Explosives on 1 and exiling my Exploration, presumably because he forgot it had converted cost of 1. This was not a game losing error on his part, I already had good control over the board.
Round 3: Matt Llilly with an Esper Stoneblade variant
Game 1: I don't think he was playing countermagic outside of the Stifle that his Dark Confidant revealed. This game is over fast with me having Wasteland, Tolaria West, Manabond, and Loam.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: He plays turn one Island, Chrome Mox, Bitterblossom. I mental fist pump, as my win condition is in play already. I play a turn one Dark Confidant off a Mox Diamond. My memory is a bit hazy up until the point where I have 4 Explorations, Crucible, and Zuran Orb in play, but then the game turns into the exact type of grind I love to play. My opponent doesn't concede so I start Wastelocking him with Tabernacle and beat him down with Thalia, Dark Confidant, and Mishra's Factory. At one point, he surgicals my Loams and is looking through my deck while admiring how unfair Thalia is in a deck like this. True statement sir.
Round 4: Kyle Smith with Merfolk
Game 1: My opponent was talking to me during shuffling last round about how he likes lands as a deck, I decide he's an alright kind of guy. However, my turn 1 Manabond with Loam is met by turn 1 Island, Aether Vial, and he concedes after I transmute Tolaria West several times.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, +4 Dark Confidant, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Oblivion Stone
Game 2: My keep is slightly loose which lets him get in some early beats. I am stable at one point, but he has a Merrow Reejery in play for my Maze if he draws a merfolk. I could play Glacial Chasm to play around this, but it would've hindered my mana at the time and I would have been able to dredge loam for West next turn and get another Maze. He draws Lord of Atlantis, and I die. He was on something like a 20-outer, I should have probably played around it.
Game 3: My opponent mulligans to 5 and has no answer to Dark Confidant. He takes the game away in a quick fashion.
My opponent was a good player and complimented my plays several times throughout the match. A very good sport and an all around cool guy.
Round 5: Austin Fritz with Maverick
Game 1: I keep a hand with Ensnaring Bridge and Enlightened Tutor, I play fetchland and pass, hoping my opponent is on Maverick. His turn 1 play is Savannah, Noble Hierarch, I gleefully fetch my Savannah and tutor for Cursed Totem. I play Mox Diamond and Wasteland on my turn, locking out all of his mana. Eventually I get hellbent Ensnaring Bridge in play with a Cursed Totem along with several Maze of Iths to stop his exalted Noble Hierarchs. That's a hard lock against Maverick, and we're off to game 2.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Mishra's Factory, +4 Dark Confidant, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Oblivion Stone
Game 2: I keep a slower hand that ends up stabilizing at 1 life after Fauna Shaman gets a ton of Faerie Macabres to meddle with my plans. I'm facing 3 lethal attackers with 3 mazes and a zuran orb. I think that the only way I can lose is to Krosan Grip and Wateland, he has one card in hand. He draws for turn, casts Krosan Grip and plays Wasteland. Touche sir, touche. I make a note to myself to start playing around ridiculous scenarios I create in my head to avoid blowouts.
Game 3: I turn 1 a Dark Confidant and Wasteland him off of non-Bojuka Bog mana. Bob beats get there.
Alright, win-and-in time. I'm notoriously awful at them, my last one resulting in me getting paired against Spiral Tide at GP Indy.
Round 6: Chris Bechtoldt with U/W Stoneblade
Game 1: For some reason, my opponent strikes me as a Spiral Tide player. My turn 1 play is an Exploration that resolves, his is Island, go. Oh dear. I Loam for fetches and prepare to take a reaming. I almost jump out of my seat when his turn 2 play is Plains, Stoneforge Mystic. I dredge Loam into a Port, then into a Tolaria West for Ghost Quarter that gets all of his basics. I note that he's playing 5, and we go to game 2.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: I mulligan into a suboptimal hand with a Bob, he has turn 1 Relic. I get my Bob Plowed, which makes me think my opponent is either very good or very bad. I settle on the former as he is 5-0. I durdle around, don't really do anything and concede to his Jace to save time.
Game 3: I have an early Thalia that he doesn't deal with until very late; I spend these turns drawing the other two Thalias and fetchlands. He eventually gets Jace going and gets to put my Creeping Tar Pit on bottom. Ouch. He has Stoneforge, Batterskull and Snapcaster to block for Jace, and my library gets exiled.
Ok, win and in part 2. I'm slightly less comfortable at this point as I know at least two ANT decks are in my bracket, but so are a lot of RUG decks. I meet up with Kirby, he's 5-1 also. We brohug, and we're off.
Round 7: Xavier Haron with U/W Miracles
Game 1: A fast Loam with Explorations take it down, he concedes when I start recurring Ghost Quarters with 2 Explorations.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: He has turn 1 Tundra, Relic. I Wasteland, he plays turn 2 Wasteland. I Wasteland again. He plays nothing. I get a fetch into play, he again plays nothing. I play a Thalia that resolves. I find several Ports by the time he makes land drops, he ends the game having cast 1 spell.
Round 8: Aaron Marasco
We I.D. as we are under the impression that our breakers are good enough. Turns out that they were not quite good enough, I barely get in at 8th seed, him getting 9th. Sorry man, it was entirely unintentional :(
Quarterfinals: Andrew Lozano with RUG
Game 1: I am put on the back foot quickly by 2 Nimble Mongeese. I stabilize at one point with Glacial Chasm and Zuran Orb, but he Thought Scours, hitting his one-of Life from the Loam, Loaming back Wasteland for Chasm and killing me. I now know what its like to be on the other side of the Loam game, and we're off to game 2.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Chalice of the Void, +1 Tormod's Crypt, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: I am able to cripple his mana with a quick burst of Wastelands, the game ends with my 2 Mishra's Factories racing his Goyf.
Game 3: This game is the longest grind of a game I have played in some time, it was great. I get a chalice on 1 and 2 in play, an ensnaring bridge, a crucible, and a zuran orb while he has a Scavenging Ooze. My original plan is to deck him with Ruins, getting him to tap a green to Ooze an artifact and wasting him off his other green sources, but his Green Sun's Zenith ruined that plan. Instead, I had to wait until I had more Ports/Wastelands than he had untapped green sources, waste/port them all, and have a wasteland left in graveyard to recur with crucible while he had no green. It happens eventually, and he dies with no permanents to me attacking with Tar Pit and 2 Factories, Mazing one Factory 4 times, and responding to each untap with the +1 ability targeting the still attacking Mishra's Factory. Unnecessary? Yes. Cool? Definitely.
Semifinals: David Thomas with Esper Stoneblade
Game 1: David tells me that this matchup is unwinnable for him because he doesn't run Wastelands. I keep a hand that is a lot of mana denial and Explorations and eventually draw a Loam. He concedes when I transmute Tolaria West for Maze of Ith.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: I get the game locked up while at low life from Batterskull beats, but I forget to pay my Tabernacle trigger for my Thalia while she was a necessary blocker. I lose shortly thereafter.
Game 3: My opponent concedes to my disgusting double Exploration, Wasteland, Loam start.
Finals: Kobie Spaeth with UWR Miracleblade
Game 1: I get a good hand for against blue involving Rishadan Port and Intition. I port him during his draw steps because he has a Top in play and doing that doesn't allow him to choose which card he draws for turn with the Ported Mana. One of the turns I do this, he taps out to Clique me, to which I respond with Intuition. While searching, I realize that I forgot to de-sideboard my second Mishra's Factory from last round. I call a Judge, they issue me a game loss. However, if the Intuition had resolved, I would have searched 2 Loams and Tolaria West, this prevents him from using Clique to get rid of Loam.
Sideboarding: -3 Intuition, -2 Manabond, -1 Cursed Totem, -1 Ensnaring Bridge, -3 Enlightened Tutor, +4 Dark Confidant, +3 Thalia, +2 Chalice of the Void, +1 Mishra's Factory
Game 2: He Surgicals my Wastelands, Loams, and Explorations. With my key engine missing, I casually murder him with manlands. I tell him he should feel embarrassed, he does.
Game 3: I mull to a 6 that is lands and 2 Mox Diamonds. Not good by any means but I dislike mulligans. I get a topdecked Bob Plowed and eventually die to Jace. Ouch.
It was a pretty sweet tournament, I think Lands was very well positioned as Merfolk and Stoneblade were both very popular. As for the deck, I like it how it is currently, though I could understand putting the sideboard O-Stone in the main over the Cursed Totem. The sideboard Thalias are amazing and degenerate, a deck with as much mana denial as this one utilizes that effect very well.
Thanks for reading, and stay the hell out of Missouri.