jandax
08-05-2013, 04:47 AM
Took down a local event with Imperial Painter on Saturday. Here's my list:
4 Recruiter
4 Stone
4 Painter
4 Blood Moon
3 Magus
3 Welder
2 Revoker
1 Jaya
4 REB
3 Blasts
3 SDT
4 SSG
1 Mox
1 Petal
9 Mountain
2 Fetch
8 Sol land
Sideboard:
1 Jaya
1 Blast
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Bridge
4 Thorn
I sat down to round one with Marc playing Death and Taxes. I think it was close to the list that won GP Strasbourg this year. I fan open the following hand after loosing the die roll and Marc taking a couple mulligans:
Painter's Servant, Ancient Tomb, Red Elemental Blast, Sensei's Divining Top, Grindstone, Grindstone, Phyrexian Revoker
Keep. No Moon to bust out, but if I top deck another Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors then that's a turn two combo. I have a Top to filter and a Revoker to stifle any game plan they got going on. He leads with a Plains. My first turn, a Mountain comes off the top, Ancient Tomb powers out the Servant, naming Blue, and I ship the turn. His next turn he Wastelands my Tomb, but that's all he had to do for the next couple of turns. Eventually, I draw another Mountain and a Simian Spirit Guide to activate Grindstone and mill him out.
Out goes three Magus of the Moon for two Ratchet Bomb and an extra Jaya.
The second game was a bit of a drawn out affair. Neither of us took a mulligan, and I kept a hand with three Imperial Recruiter, Ancient Tomb, Mountain, Ratchet Bomb, Simian Spirit Guide and a Top. Against this type of deck I was prepared for the long game, where my combo would eventually win out, or if he had things like True Believer, Ratchet Bomb and Jaya Ballard, Task Mage would have to clear the way before things went off. I use my Recruiters to fetch up appropriate utility to thwart his board while I build a hand full of Blasts and wait for a Grindstone to appear. Eventually, Ancient Tomb had gotten me too low, and with a wall of creatures on either side, he got me down to four life and with no Blood Moon to shut the Tomb off and prevent some damage, I scooped with twelve minutes left on the clock.
For game three I boarded out a Chrome Mox, Grindstone, and Pyroblast for three Ensnaring Bridge.
I kept a fast hand without a Blast for protection, and of course he had the Swords to Plowshares in response to my Grindstone activation. We trade dudes, and the game is pivoting in his favor when time is called. From here it was possible to play to a draw, and that's what I did. But after a little banter while de-sideboarding I offered him the win. I was there to have fun after a long stretch of no Magic, and besides, iPainter cleans up in the loser bracket!
0-1 (1-2 in games)
Round two I face Rob playing Affinity. Not much to report. I kept a hand with Painter/Stone combo both games and went off on my turn three and four respectively. I boarded the same way I did against Death and Taxes. It's just a good match up, as unless they have a nut draw, you're combo is faster and you can control things better than they can bust through with an aggressive start.
1-1 (3-2 in games)
Round three pitted me against another good match up, RUG Delver. My opponent, whom I had played before a while back and he was playing TES. He sat next to me the previous round so I knew what he was on, and he probably knew what I was playing. The key to this matchup is landing a Blood Moon effect before they land a Tarmogoyf or even Nimble Mongoose. I win the roll and open a hand with Mountain, Magus of the Moon, Blood Moon, City of Traitors, Pyroblast, Chrome Mox and Painter's Servant. Keepable, right?
He plays Force of Will on my turn one Blood Moon. My turn two Magus of the Moon precedes a Delver of Secrets from his side. He's now locked out of the game when the Pyroblast takes care of the Delver and scoops soon afterwards.
Again I board the same as in the first two rounds.
He opens up with a couple of Mongeese while I keep a hand with two Mountain, a Magus, a Revoker, a Top, Painter and Grindstone. I decide to bait a Force from his hand with the Magus in order to protect my Painter/Stone combo. I draw for the turn an Ancient Tomb to help speed things up, and as expected, the Magus eats a Force. Now I have the mana to pay for a Spell Pierce and Daze, and the only hard counter he'd likely have would be a Spell Snare or one of three Force of Wills left in his deck. Odds I was willing to bet on, and sure enough I lead with Grindstone to play around soft counters and then the Painter's Servant comes down to seal the deal.
2-1 (5-2 in games)
Round four I sit down across from Andy playing Tinfins. I win the roll and keep a hand with Lands, Painter's Servant and Grindstone, a Blast effect and a Blood Moon. Good in any matchup, but he started off with Dark Ritual, Entomb Griselbrand, Shallow Grave on Griselbrand, draw his deck, play more mana, Entomb an Emrakul, shuffle trigger on the stack play another Shallow Grave on the Emrakul, attack for twenty two.
Sigh.
In come the Bridges and Thorn of Amethyst. I sided out a couple Welders, a Blast, the Chrome Mox, and the Grindstones. Since I won't be milling him out with an Emrakul in his deck, I go the Mono-Red Control route.
Game two I open a hand with lands, a Painter, a couple Blasts, and a Magus. Good enough. He's got two basic lands in his deck, so he's not totally dead, but I can keep him off his business spells with a Painter on the board. This plan works out and the dork beat downs force a concession.
Game three started much like the second one. However, with him on the play, he had the time he needed to set up his combo and just Reanimate a Griselbrand to beat me down. I had answers but no way to stop the 7/7 flier with what I had on board and in hand.
Sigh.
2-2 (6-4 in games)
At this point I figure I'm out and hang out to play the last round to get some pity packs. Fortunately, I sit down across from a slower combo deck which might actually give me a shot at Top 8. The pairings went up as well as the standings and some how I was in 8th seed, so winning this would give me a shot. My opponent had no desire to play in a top 8 so I was pretty sure if I lost he might even scoop me in. My opponent Erik was playing a Rest in Peace/Helm of Obedience/Painter's Servant/Grindstone combo deck with Tezzeret and all the good blue and white spells in the format.
I didn't take good notes this round, but both games came down to me having better control of the board with Blood Moon and disruption. After winning both games in short order, I was 7th seed going into the top 8.
Top 8 (9-5 in games)
My quarter finals opponent was playing a new take on the Lands deck with Thespian's Stage and Dark Depths. Sweet deck, but not against Blood Moon!
Game one I mulligan into a combo hand with no protection and no Blood Moon. He opens with a Tropical Island into Ponder, then next turn a Tundra into a Ponder. I don't know what he's on so I wait a turn to play around Daze with my freshly drawn Magus. He Force of Wills, then plays Crop Rotation end of turn to get a Dark Depths. Next turn the Stage comes down and I didn't have an answer.
I board in a few Bridges for a couple Welders and Revokers, because they can't target land cards. Game two I open up a sweet hand with fast mana, two Moon effects and protection. My turn two Moon eats a Force of Will after an Intuition for three copies of the card. He only had one Force left in his deck and I had seen a couple Spell Pierces in previous round from his team mate's same list. My turn three Magus would be safe from a Spell Pierce and I doubted he had the Force, which he didn't and he scoops.
Game three I mulligan into another double Moon and mana hand, and he can't deal with it.
Top 4 (11-6 in games)
My first round opponent with Death and Taxes again.
He's the higher seed so he starts first with a mulligan, while I keep Painter/Stone, a couple lands, a Blast, a Revoker and a Top.
Come turn three he has a Phyrexian Revoker naming Sensei's Divining Top, and I have Painter and Grindstone on the table thanks to some Sol Lands. He didn't have the Swords to Plowshares in response so we're off to game two.
I board accordingly.
He mulligans again, and again opens up with a Phyrexian Revoker, this time on Grindstone. No problem. I again had an artifact hand but no Mountain and only Ancient Tomb for mana. I go low on life from the Tomb and he gets there when an Umezawa's Jitte comes out of nowhere.
Game three was another drawn out affair. I establish control with an early Moon and Top, but don't have any combo pieces. Fortunately, he doesn't have any protection in the form of True Believer or Thalia, Guardian of Thraban. He applies more and more creatures to the board while I am cycling through Imperial Recruiters for pieces to control the board or to combo. Finally, before he can draw a Mangara of Corondor to axe my combo piece, I draw the Grindstone for the win.
Finals (12-7 in games)
My opponent hasn't dropped a match thus far. Playing Deathblade he also doesn't fare well against Blood Moon.
Game one I open with Ancient Tomb, Mountain, Top, Blood Moon, two Recruiters and a Pyroblast.
He starts with a Thoughtseize on my Blood Moon. I play the Top off of the Tomb and see a Blood Moon in the top three and set that one on top. He Thoughtseizes again and takes a Recruiter. Next turn I slam the Blood Moon, which he Force of Wills. During my turn I upkeep Top to get a land, and set up for a next turn Moon with Pyroblast back up. He plays a Snapcaster into Thoughtseize to get the Blast. Eh well, not going to win if I don't take a risk. He doesn't have it and scoops them up.
Game two I see a Mountain, Grindstone, two Blasts, a Magus and an Imperial Recruiter. Instead of Thoughtseizing he starts Brainstorming which I allow, and draw an Ancient Tomb for my turn. Grindstone comes out off the mountain and he Brainstorms again.
I draw another Mountain and run out the Recruiter to get Painter's Servant and seal this game. He plays Snapcaster Mage in response, for Brainstorm, the only instant in his 'yard, and I Blast it. He plays Force of Will on the blast which I let resolve. Snappy gets Brainstorm exiled and Recruiter resolves getting me a Painter. I saved my last blast to cover my combo piece or even Magus, as Recruiter got a Force out of his hand already. Good news. He untaps and slams a Jace, which I immediately counter with my saved Blast and a Simian Spirit Guide. No way he can stay on the board.
Next turn I gently lay the Magus down and he scoops them up with two cards left in hand.
Got a minty Force of Will for my troubles!
4 Recruiter
4 Stone
4 Painter
4 Blood Moon
3 Magus
3 Welder
2 Revoker
1 Jaya
4 REB
3 Blasts
3 SDT
4 SSG
1 Mox
1 Petal
9 Mountain
2 Fetch
8 Sol land
Sideboard:
1 Jaya
1 Blast
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Bridge
4 Thorn
I sat down to round one with Marc playing Death and Taxes. I think it was close to the list that won GP Strasbourg this year. I fan open the following hand after loosing the die roll and Marc taking a couple mulligans:
Painter's Servant, Ancient Tomb, Red Elemental Blast, Sensei's Divining Top, Grindstone, Grindstone, Phyrexian Revoker
Keep. No Moon to bust out, but if I top deck another Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors then that's a turn two combo. I have a Top to filter and a Revoker to stifle any game plan they got going on. He leads with a Plains. My first turn, a Mountain comes off the top, Ancient Tomb powers out the Servant, naming Blue, and I ship the turn. His next turn he Wastelands my Tomb, but that's all he had to do for the next couple of turns. Eventually, I draw another Mountain and a Simian Spirit Guide to activate Grindstone and mill him out.
Out goes three Magus of the Moon for two Ratchet Bomb and an extra Jaya.
The second game was a bit of a drawn out affair. Neither of us took a mulligan, and I kept a hand with three Imperial Recruiter, Ancient Tomb, Mountain, Ratchet Bomb, Simian Spirit Guide and a Top. Against this type of deck I was prepared for the long game, where my combo would eventually win out, or if he had things like True Believer, Ratchet Bomb and Jaya Ballard, Task Mage would have to clear the way before things went off. I use my Recruiters to fetch up appropriate utility to thwart his board while I build a hand full of Blasts and wait for a Grindstone to appear. Eventually, Ancient Tomb had gotten me too low, and with a wall of creatures on either side, he got me down to four life and with no Blood Moon to shut the Tomb off and prevent some damage, I scooped with twelve minutes left on the clock.
For game three I boarded out a Chrome Mox, Grindstone, and Pyroblast for three Ensnaring Bridge.
I kept a fast hand without a Blast for protection, and of course he had the Swords to Plowshares in response to my Grindstone activation. We trade dudes, and the game is pivoting in his favor when time is called. From here it was possible to play to a draw, and that's what I did. But after a little banter while de-sideboarding I offered him the win. I was there to have fun after a long stretch of no Magic, and besides, iPainter cleans up in the loser bracket!
0-1 (1-2 in games)
Round two I face Rob playing Affinity. Not much to report. I kept a hand with Painter/Stone combo both games and went off on my turn three and four respectively. I boarded the same way I did against Death and Taxes. It's just a good match up, as unless they have a nut draw, you're combo is faster and you can control things better than they can bust through with an aggressive start.
1-1 (3-2 in games)
Round three pitted me against another good match up, RUG Delver. My opponent, whom I had played before a while back and he was playing TES. He sat next to me the previous round so I knew what he was on, and he probably knew what I was playing. The key to this matchup is landing a Blood Moon effect before they land a Tarmogoyf or even Nimble Mongoose. I win the roll and open a hand with Mountain, Magus of the Moon, Blood Moon, City of Traitors, Pyroblast, Chrome Mox and Painter's Servant. Keepable, right?
He plays Force of Will on my turn one Blood Moon. My turn two Magus of the Moon precedes a Delver of Secrets from his side. He's now locked out of the game when the Pyroblast takes care of the Delver and scoops soon afterwards.
Again I board the same as in the first two rounds.
He opens up with a couple of Mongeese while I keep a hand with two Mountain, a Magus, a Revoker, a Top, Painter and Grindstone. I decide to bait a Force from his hand with the Magus in order to protect my Painter/Stone combo. I draw for the turn an Ancient Tomb to help speed things up, and as expected, the Magus eats a Force. Now I have the mana to pay for a Spell Pierce and Daze, and the only hard counter he'd likely have would be a Spell Snare or one of three Force of Wills left in his deck. Odds I was willing to bet on, and sure enough I lead with Grindstone to play around soft counters and then the Painter's Servant comes down to seal the deal.
2-1 (5-2 in games)
Round four I sit down across from Andy playing Tinfins. I win the roll and keep a hand with Lands, Painter's Servant and Grindstone, a Blast effect and a Blood Moon. Good in any matchup, but he started off with Dark Ritual, Entomb Griselbrand, Shallow Grave on Griselbrand, draw his deck, play more mana, Entomb an Emrakul, shuffle trigger on the stack play another Shallow Grave on the Emrakul, attack for twenty two.
Sigh.
In come the Bridges and Thorn of Amethyst. I sided out a couple Welders, a Blast, the Chrome Mox, and the Grindstones. Since I won't be milling him out with an Emrakul in his deck, I go the Mono-Red Control route.
Game two I open a hand with lands, a Painter, a couple Blasts, and a Magus. Good enough. He's got two basic lands in his deck, so he's not totally dead, but I can keep him off his business spells with a Painter on the board. This plan works out and the dork beat downs force a concession.
Game three started much like the second one. However, with him on the play, he had the time he needed to set up his combo and just Reanimate a Griselbrand to beat me down. I had answers but no way to stop the 7/7 flier with what I had on board and in hand.
Sigh.
2-2 (6-4 in games)
At this point I figure I'm out and hang out to play the last round to get some pity packs. Fortunately, I sit down across from a slower combo deck which might actually give me a shot at Top 8. The pairings went up as well as the standings and some how I was in 8th seed, so winning this would give me a shot. My opponent had no desire to play in a top 8 so I was pretty sure if I lost he might even scoop me in. My opponent Erik was playing a Rest in Peace/Helm of Obedience/Painter's Servant/Grindstone combo deck with Tezzeret and all the good blue and white spells in the format.
I didn't take good notes this round, but both games came down to me having better control of the board with Blood Moon and disruption. After winning both games in short order, I was 7th seed going into the top 8.
Top 8 (9-5 in games)
My quarter finals opponent was playing a new take on the Lands deck with Thespian's Stage and Dark Depths. Sweet deck, but not against Blood Moon!
Game one I mulligan into a combo hand with no protection and no Blood Moon. He opens with a Tropical Island into Ponder, then next turn a Tundra into a Ponder. I don't know what he's on so I wait a turn to play around Daze with my freshly drawn Magus. He Force of Wills, then plays Crop Rotation end of turn to get a Dark Depths. Next turn the Stage comes down and I didn't have an answer.
I board in a few Bridges for a couple Welders and Revokers, because they can't target land cards. Game two I open up a sweet hand with fast mana, two Moon effects and protection. My turn two Moon eats a Force of Will after an Intuition for three copies of the card. He only had one Force left in his deck and I had seen a couple Spell Pierces in previous round from his team mate's same list. My turn three Magus would be safe from a Spell Pierce and I doubted he had the Force, which he didn't and he scoops.
Game three I mulligan into another double Moon and mana hand, and he can't deal with it.
Top 4 (11-6 in games)
My first round opponent with Death and Taxes again.
He's the higher seed so he starts first with a mulligan, while I keep Painter/Stone, a couple lands, a Blast, a Revoker and a Top.
Come turn three he has a Phyrexian Revoker naming Sensei's Divining Top, and I have Painter and Grindstone on the table thanks to some Sol Lands. He didn't have the Swords to Plowshares in response so we're off to game two.
I board accordingly.
He mulligans again, and again opens up with a Phyrexian Revoker, this time on Grindstone. No problem. I again had an artifact hand but no Mountain and only Ancient Tomb for mana. I go low on life from the Tomb and he gets there when an Umezawa's Jitte comes out of nowhere.
Game three was another drawn out affair. I establish control with an early Moon and Top, but don't have any combo pieces. Fortunately, he doesn't have any protection in the form of True Believer or Thalia, Guardian of Thraban. He applies more and more creatures to the board while I am cycling through Imperial Recruiters for pieces to control the board or to combo. Finally, before he can draw a Mangara of Corondor to axe my combo piece, I draw the Grindstone for the win.
Finals (12-7 in games)
My opponent hasn't dropped a match thus far. Playing Deathblade he also doesn't fare well against Blood Moon.
Game one I open with Ancient Tomb, Mountain, Top, Blood Moon, two Recruiters and a Pyroblast.
He starts with a Thoughtseize on my Blood Moon. I play the Top off of the Tomb and see a Blood Moon in the top three and set that one on top. He Thoughtseizes again and takes a Recruiter. Next turn I slam the Blood Moon, which he Force of Wills. During my turn I upkeep Top to get a land, and set up for a next turn Moon with Pyroblast back up. He plays a Snapcaster into Thoughtseize to get the Blast. Eh well, not going to win if I don't take a risk. He doesn't have it and scoops them up.
Game two I see a Mountain, Grindstone, two Blasts, a Magus and an Imperial Recruiter. Instead of Thoughtseizing he starts Brainstorming which I allow, and draw an Ancient Tomb for my turn. Grindstone comes out off the mountain and he Brainstorms again.
I draw another Mountain and run out the Recruiter to get Painter's Servant and seal this game. He plays Snapcaster Mage in response, for Brainstorm, the only instant in his 'yard, and I Blast it. He plays Force of Will on the blast which I let resolve. Snappy gets Brainstorm exiled and Recruiter resolves getting me a Painter. I saved my last blast to cover my combo piece or even Magus, as Recruiter got a Force out of his hand already. Good news. He untaps and slams a Jace, which I immediately counter with my saved Blast and a Simian Spirit Guide. No way he can stay on the board.
Next turn I gently lay the Magus down and he scoops them up with two cards left in hand.
Got a minty Force of Will for my troubles!