EyeOfTheStorm
02-26-2014, 12:13 AM
Hello!
I've spent many years as a lurker on these boards, but I finally felt the time had come to register a user name and contribute. I recently played in The Legacy Gala at Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, Maryland and thought my experience would make for an interesting report. I played my take on Ad Nauseum Tendrils:
Main Deck:
4x Polluted Delta
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Underground Sea
1x Badlands
1x Island
1x Swamp
1x Tropical Island
1x Volcanic Island
4x Cabal Ritual
4x Dark Ritual
4x Lion's Eye Diamond
4x Lotus Petal
4x Brainstorm
4x Ponder
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Duress
3x Cabal Therapy
4x Infernal Tutor
1x Ad Nauseum
1x Grim Tutor
1x Lim-Dul's Vault
1x Past in Flames
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Tendrils of Agony
Sideboard:
3x Dark Confidant
3x Massacre
2x Chain of Vapor
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Xantid Swarm
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Defense Grid
I was very happy with my main deck. I've found four tutor effects to be too few and usually play five or six. Infernal Tutor has no true peer, but Lim-Dul's Vault and Grim Tutor both have their advantages and disadvantages, so I played one of each. Sensei's Divining Top is another personal favorite. Oft derided for being slow, it provides some uniquely fast natural Ad Nauseums by turning LED into Black Lotus. It is also fantastic against discard and in Past in Flames loops with lots of mana but few cantrips. Finally, I've played an Empty the Warrens in the past, either in the main or the board, but I decided to forgo it today based on the decks I expected to show up. I played the seventh discard spell in it's place.
I guess now we have to talk about my sideboard. It is horridly misbuilt. It was designed with the popular decks in my metagame in mind: Death and Taxes, Life from the Loam strategies, and Miracles. The mistake I made was to jam a bunch of cards that are good in specific matchups into my board without any real plan. This is a bad idea for most decks, but is particularly toxic for engine decks like Storm where each card boarded in is inherently less good at comboing off that the main deck card it replaces. Without a real boarding plan, I ended up with too many cards for a few matchups as we'll see in my matches.
I showed up at Games and Stuff a little before 11. My $25 entry fee bought me my chance to play for 5 revised duals, 1 unlimited dual and a set of Force of Wills split among top 8. The TO guaranteed prizes at 24 players but only 22 showed up. Fortunately, Ed Sloman loves Magic players and honored the original prize structure. He even threw in free pizza! I'm not sure if the man loves Magic players or just hates money, but he sure knows how to run a great tournament. We started round 1 shortly after 11.
Round 1: Kurt playing Death and Taxes
Kurt recognized me. I knew we'd met, but I couldn't put him on a deck. I win the die roll and open a beauty:
Probe, Island, Delta, Brainstorm, Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lotus Petal
I open on Probe, drawing a replacement Probe, and see:
Spirit of the Labyrinth, Wasteland, Aven Mindcensor, Cavern of Souls, Karakas, Mother of Runes, Thalia
Ugh, Thalia. Well, it isn't coming down until turn two. Might as well wait on these cantrips. Play Island and pass. Hopefully five new cards next turn will be enough to win.
Kurt plays Cavern, naming human, plays Mother of Runes and passes.
I draw Badlands, Probe into LED (Kurt drew AEther Vial), and Brainstorm into Tarn, Tropical Island and Duress. Gross. I put back Tropical Island and Tarn, play Delta, crack for a Swamp and cast Duress taking Kurt's Vial. I now have five cards in the yard. I play LED and Petal to get under Thalia. Pass with Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual and Badlands in hand and Petal and LED in play.
Kurt plays Wasteland into Thalia. Sigh.
I draw Ad Nausem. It's unlikely I get a better chance than this. Play Badlands. Break a Petal and tap Island for Dark Ritual (Storm 1, BBB). Cabal Ritual is thresholded (S2, BBBBB). Tap Swamp to play Ad Nauseum, breaking LED for three blue (S3, UUU). I'm at 15 after two Probes and a fetch.
Ad Nauseum flips (omitting lands):
Brainstorm (14)
Ponder (13)
Infernal Tutor (11)
Ponder (10)
Sensei's Divining Top (9)
Cabal Ritual (7)
Tendrils of Agony (3)
Lion's Eye Diamond (3)
I have three mana floating, plus an untapped Badlands. Accouting for Thalia, Cabal Ritual puts me to six mana and LED puts me to eight. Tutor leaves me with five and Past in Flames with zero. Not enough. I need a Cabal Ritual or an LED and I need it now.
Cabal Ritual (1)
Well that was fortunate. Tap Badlands and play Cabal Ritual (S4, BBBBBU), LED (S5, BBBBB), Cabal Ritual (S6, BBBBBBB), Infernal Tutor breaking LED for red (S7, BBBBRRR) finding and casting Past in Flames (S8, BB). Flashback Dark Ritual (S9, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S10, BBBBB), Tendrils for 22. Got there.
Sideboarding:
+3 Massacre, +2 Chain of Vapor
-4 Duress, -1 Ad Nauseum
Massacre should need no explanation. .hain of Vapor can take care of an unprotected Thalia or any number of annoying things. Most of the cards we care about are creatures, so Duress is pretty weak. Ad Nauseum is less good when adding three cards with converted mana cost four to our deck.
Kurt keeps his seven in game two, and I open:
Chain of Vapor, Massacre, Brainstorm, Infernal Tutor, Delta, Tarn, Cabal Therapy
This hand is fine. Post-board my goal is to play a more controlling game, shaping my hand and answering threats until I can start counting to ten.
Kurt starts with Plains into AEther Vial. I draw a Tropical Island, play Scaling Tarn, and pass. If he has the Spirit again I can Brainstorm in response, but otherwise I'd rather wait until my turn.
Kurt plays a Wasteland and passes. Because I have the Massacre, I fetch an Island and Chain the Vial. This will slow down his threes and helps to get hellbent for the Tutor. Kurt makes a Mother of Runes.
I draw Ponder for turn. Now things get interesting. I can definitely hit the Vial with Therapy, but is there something better waiting? Well, let's start with Brainstorm. I draw Dark Ritual, LED, Dark Ritual. Quite the Brainstorm! I put back Tropical Island and Massacre, play Delta, crack it for a Swamp, play Dark Ritual (S2, BBB), Dark Ritual (S3, BBBBB), LED (S4, BBBBB), Infernal Tutor breaking LED for red (S5, BBBRRR). I find and cast Past in Flames (S6, BB), flashback Ritual (S7, BBBB), Ritual (S8, BBBBBB), Tutor (S9, BBBB) and Tendrils for 20.
Remember kids, better lucky than good.
As I'm waiting for the next round, a few Miracles players who I know walk into the shop. Apparently they thought the event started at noon. Unfortunate for them, but I won't complain!
Round 2: Mark with Ad Nauseum Tendrils
Mark is a good friend of mine. A long time RUG player, I was recently able to tempt him with the dark arts and he won himself a set of LEDs on his first try Storming. We're very familiar with each other's lists. I'm hoping my extra main deck discard spell and sideboard Dark Confidants and Surigcal Extractions will give me the edge.
Unfortunately I've lost my notes on this round. In game 1, I Ponder and Brainstorm some and have the option of Tendrils for 14 on turn two. Being up 33 to 6 is big in the ANT mirror because it is very hard to Ad Nauseum from six, but getting to storm 17 is quite hard without Ad Nauseum. The downside is I will have an empty hand and a mostly empty graveyard making Mark's discard spells all the more powerful. Instead, I decide to force Mark to have it on turn two. He doesn't, and I Ad Nauseum on turn 3 for the win.
Sideboarding:
+3 Dark Confidant, +2 Surgical Extraction
-1 Ad Nauseum, -1 Ponder, -1 Grim Tutor, -1 Lim-Dul's Vault, -1 Cabal Ritual
Here is an example of my sideboard having no real plan. I decide to pursue the control route and force Mark to be the beatdown. Ad Nauseum doesn't play well with Bob, so it gets cut. Then I shave where possible. In particular, Dark Confidant can help find Tutors, so I cut the worse two.
In game two, I open on
Past in Flames, Ponder, Duress, Surgical Extraction, Tropical Island, Island, Scalding Tarn
Mark Probes me a few times before Duressing my Surgical. This is good news. Not only do we get to keep our Duress, but Mark must have someting worth Extracting. I draw a second Duress and Duress him and indeed see Tendrils of Agony. Unfortunately I can't flashback Surgical yet, so I take an Infernal Tutor. Mark can't kill me, and I draw LED. I Ponder into lands and Cabal Ritual, leaving the Ritual on top. I play the LED and Duress Tendrils. Mark Duresses me and is forced to take Past in Flames. I draw Cabal Ritual, use it and LED to flashback Past in Flames, then flashback Surgical targeting Tendrils. Mark concedes.
Playing a buddy sucks. I'd much rather have met Mark in the Top 8.
Game 3: Mike with Elves.
I've seen Mike around, but I have no idea what he could be playing. My die rolling streak continues and I open:
Probe, Cabal Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Petal, Ad Nauseum, Underground Sea, Duress
Deal. Probe draws a Tarn and reveals:
Elvish Visionary, Elvish Visionary, Wirewood Symbiote, Gaea's Cradle, Dryad Arbor, Wooded Foothills
This one looks good for us. Mike plays Foothills, fetches a Bayou and plays Symbiote. I fetch a Sea with Tarn then play Petal, Ritual, Ritual and cast Ad Nauseum. Ten life later, we kill him.
Sideboarding:
+2 Chain of Vapor, +1 Abrupt Decay
-1 Duress, -1 Sensei's Divining Top, -1 Ponder
Normally I like playing some Massacre and some Pyroclasm in my board. Today I was not expecting Elves. Massacre is bad because if they have a Plains it is almost always because they used it to cast Gaddock Teeg, patron saint of Elves not being Massacred. Chain can bounce Teeg. Decay kills him dead. I could try Surgicals, but they are particularly weak against Elves because so many of their cards are redundant; hitting anything other than Natural Order hardly matters. Top is a little slow and Duress only hits 10-12 cards, although they are the more important cards.
Mike mulligans to six and keeps after some deliberation. I keep:
Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Swamp, Delta, Probe, Therapy
Mike starts on Forest into Quirion Ranger. No black source or discard bodes well for me. My draw step yields a land, as does Probe, which sees:
Quirion Ranger, Scavenging Ooze, Wirewood Symbiote, Windswept Heath
I play a Swamp and Therapy away the Ooze.
Mike draws and fetches a Bayou before playing his Symbiote and a Deathrite Shaman and attacking for one.
My draw step produces a Dark Ritual. Not what I need. Pass.
Mike plays out his second Ranger and attack for two.
I draw another land. This is starting to get uncomfortable. Deathrite Shaman eats Probe at end of turn.
Mike draws and plays a Deathrite Shaman. I'm attacked for three, putting me at ten.
I draw Ad Nauseum. This is hardle ideal. Mike's Deathrite Shaman puts me at a virtual 8. On the other hand, things aren't getting any better next turn. Let's go for it:
Dark Ritual (S1, BBB), Dark Ritual (S2, BBBBB), Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBBBB), LED (S4, BBBBBB), Ad Nauseum (S5, B)
I flip:
Dark Ritual (9)
Chain of Vapor (8)
Cabal Ritual (6)
Therapy (5)
Past in Flames (1)
Well, I'm dead. I stop and Deathrite kills me as soon as Mike gets priority.
Sideboarding:
+1 Chain of Vapor, +1 Abrupt Decay
-1 Duress, -1 Sensei's Divining Top
On the play I'd rather have the extra cantrip. I wasn't sure whether Chain or Decay would be better, so I hedged. It turns out Mike plays Ruric Thar, making this a very poor choice.
Game three was one of my favorite games I've ever played with Storm. Unfortunately, we were a little tight on time and my notes suffered.
I sent back a hand that did nothing while Mike kept his seven. I kept
Tropical Island, Brainstorm, Scalding Tarn, Lim-Dul's Vault, Ad Nauseum, Dark Ritual
This hand is all over the place. Lim-Dul's Vault and Ad Nauseum tend to be a nonbo, but Brainstorm can draw multiple cards that have been set up by the Vault. I play the Tropical Island and pass.
Mike uses a Windswept Heath to find a Savannah. This almost certainly means he has Gaddock Teeg in hand. He casts a Deathrite Shaman.
I draw a Cabal Ritual. Ideally, Mike will do nothing and I can use Lim-Dul's Vault to set up an easy win by finding Infernal Tutor and LED. I play the Scalding Tarn and pass.
It turns out Mike has other plans. He starts by sacrificing Verdant Catacombs, finding Bayou, then plays Green Sun's Zenith for one, finding Quirion Ranger. He exiles one of his fetches with Deathrite Shaman, returns his Savannah to untap it, then exile his other fetch and plays Gaddock Teeg. My fears have been confirmed. At the end of Mike's turn, I fetch up a Badlands (19 life), boldly proclaim that a perfect Storm player would win this game, and cast Lim-Dul's Vault.
I need to find a few things. First, I need an answer to Gaddock Teeg. I'd also like to fill up my graveyard for Cabal Ritual. A Tutor would be great, as would an LED.
The top twenty cards fail to yeild an answer to Teeg. At 15 life, I see
Chain of Vapor, Underground Sea, Past in Flames, Gitaxian Probe, Brainstorm
When I untap, my graveyard will only have a fetch and the Vault. Brainstorm makes three, Probe makes four, Chain makes five and Dark Ritual makes six; one short of threshold. If I keep Vaulting, however, I effectively turn off Ad Nauseum. Let's try and make this work. Stop at fifteen, stack the cards as listed above.
I draw Chain and pass.
Mike has two Glimpse of Nature to make things interesting. He draws approximately six hundred cards and floods the board with tapped Elves, but eventually runs out of mana. Fortunately, his own Gaddock Teeg is shutting off his Natural Orders. He attacks with Gaddock Teeg and Quirion Ranger. I can't Chain the Teeg yet as he can sacrifice lands to turn on his Deathrite Shaman. I take three and go to twelve. At the end of Mike's turn, I Chain Teeg.
I draw the Sea that I know is on top. I now have Sea, Trop and Badlands in play and Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Brainstorm and Ad Nauseum in hand. It is tempting to Ad Nauseum with an extra mana, but I know the Past in Flames is on top - ouch! I Brainstorm first, putting Sea and Probe on top (S1). Then I cast Dark Ritual (S2, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBB), tap our last land and Ad Nauseum (S4), floating 0, at 12 life, with Past in Flames in Hand.
I Ad Nauseum down to two life, finding two LEDs, a Petal and a Dark Ritual for mana, but only Grim Tutor and some cantrips for action. I play Petal, Dark Ritual, LED, LED and discard my hand to flashback Past in Flames. I have access to a ton of black mana, but only three blue mana. There are 39 cards left in my deck. The plan is to Lim-Dul's Vault (from two life!) to find Infernal Tutor or the Tendrils. I make a huge mistake and start by flashing back a Gitaxian Probe (paying with blue mana). Since I have already played a land, if I draw into a land I now need to Brainstorm to get hellbent. Fortunately, I hit a spell. 38 cards left, and 5 hits. I flashback the Vault...and find an Infernal Tutor in the top five. Therapy myself to get hellbent, spend my last blue mana to flashback a second Probe, draw Tutor and find Tendrils for the win!
That spectale gathered a small crowd. So much for hiding what I'm on.
Apparently not everyone has learned that Legacy is all about combo decks, and several players have unintentionally drawn. My good buddy Jason and I are the only two 3-0s. We look at the math and realize we're both locks for Top 8 with a draw even if we have to play next round and lose.
Round 4: Jason with Sneak and Show
ID
Sneak and Show isn't a fantastic matchup, especially because I know Jason has Leylines. I'm happy we don't have to play.
Even more draws occur. The math says a round 5 draw will put me in second or third. Sounds good to me!
Round 5: John with BUG Landstill
John agrees to draw. He will end up in fifth. Although he has Force of Will, Spell Snare and more countermagic in the board, his deck is glacially slow so I feel this matchup should be favorable and I'm happy to put him in the Top 8. I also would have liked to play him, however, as I've seen him at a number of events and know he's regarded as a very good player. I'd like to play him to get a chance to know him. Oh well, maybe in the Top 8.
I sort my deck and hand it to the judge for the Top 8 Deck Check.
Top 8: Matt with Jund Depths
Aha! Another matchup I'd prepared for. This matchup tends to favor ANT (despite the recent SCG Open top 8 match!). Preboard he has only Raven's Crime and Bojuka Bog to interact. Past in Flames does a good job of winning through Raven's Crime, so he really needs both. Post board he could have any number of things, including Sphere of Resistance, Thorn of Amethyst, Trinisphere, Chalice of the Void, or discard spells. I get Surgicals to combat his Loams.
Speaking of surgicals, it is at this point that the unimaginable happens: I receive a game loss for improperly registering my deck. Apparently, I had not listed my Surgicals in my sideboard. This is an embarassing enough mistake for any player to make, but as a Level 2 judge, this one particularly stings. Looks like I'll have to win two in a row. Fortunately, as third seed, I get to be on the play.
I open on:
Tendrils of Agony, Cabal Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Probe, Past in Flames, Infernal Tutor, Scalding Tarn
This hand is even better than it looks. Not only does it have the potential for a turn two or three kill, but it has Past in Flames to protect against Raven's Crime. I Probe Matt, drawing another Infernal Tutor, seeing
Faithless Looting, Entomb, Smallpox, Life from the Loam, Wasteland, Grove of the Burnwillows, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
I play Scalding Tarn and pass.
Matt plays Urborg and passes. Cool! Now I could fetch for an Island that acts like an Underground Sea but is safe from Wasteland. No need for that yet, though.
I draw another Cabal Ritual. Can't do anything, so I pass. Matt Entombs a Raven's Crime.
If Matt decides he wants to Smallpox me, I might be in trouble as I'll need to find two mana sources. Fortunately, his Entomb suggests he wants to Crime me out, a plan I am much more prepared to handle.
On his turn, Matt plays Grove and Crimes me twice. I discard Infernal Tutor, then Tendrils. Now I just have to dodge Bojuka Bog. He doesn't have green mana up, so Crop Rotation isn't an issue until his next turn.
I draw a third Infernal Tutor. Another blank. This is getting old. Pass.
Once again, Matt could Smallpox me right out. Instead, he consults the Loam (safe from Crop Rotation again!) and retraces Raven's Crime. I discard Past in Flames.
I draw Dark Ritual. Ding! Crack Tarn for Sea, play Dark Ritual (S1, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S2, BBBB), Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBBB), Infernal Tutor for Cabal Ritual (S4, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S5, BBBBBB), Cabal Ritual (S6, 9B), Infernal Tutor (S7, BBBBBBB) for LED (S8, BBBBBBB), crack for red and flashback Past in Flames (S9, BBBBB), Tendrils for 20.
Sideboarding:
+2 Chain of Vapor, +2 Surgical Extraction
-3 Cabal Therapy, -1 Cabal Ritual
Jund Depths tends to vary widely from list to list; I don't want to have to guess what my opponent has with a blind Therapy, especially when I need to win the only sideboard game.
The second game went by in a blur. My opening hand once again had Past in Flames. Matt mulliganned to six and his Raven's Crime helps me discard the cards I can't cast allowing me to kill on turn three unimpeded.
Jason (from round 4) was matched up against Weston, who was on Death and Taxes. Jason managed to push it to three games, but ultimately fell to his bad matchup. Guess that means I get to avenge him!
Top 4: Weston with Death and Taxes
Weston is relatively new to Legacy, but he's quickly gotten quite good. A few weeks ago, Weston beat Mark in the Swiss before losing to him in top 8. I fear the loss has left him hungry for revenge.
Once again, I am the higher seed. I open:
Ad Nauseum, Island, Volcanic Island, Duress, Cabal Therapy, Cabal Therapy, Lim-Dul's Vault
This isn't a great hand against any opponent, but it definitely isn't doing it against Death and Taxes. I mulligan and Weston is gentlemanly enough to join me on my trip to Paris.
Six cards:
Scalding Tarn, Polluted Delta, Polluted Delta, Volcanic Island, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal[I]
Well, I suppose this hand beats Thalia, but that's about it. I mulligan again. So does Weston. At least we're in this miserable battle together.
Five cards then:
[I]Grim Tutor, Lim-Dul's Vault, Duress, Ponder, Polluted Delta
I'm really tempted to go to four. Grim Tutor and Lim-Dul's Vault really don't go together well. I have Ponder and can cast it, though, so I'll have to make due. Weston keeps five as well.
I fetch an Island with Delta as there's no sense in losing to Wasteland. I Ponder into Cabal Therapy, Cabal Ritual, Ad Nauseum. I don't have the draw steps to waste on those, so I shuffle and draw Probe. I Probe Weston and see
Stoneforge Mystic, Stoneforge Mystic, Horizon Canopy, Plains, Karakas
while drawing a Dark Ritual. At least his hand isn't great either.
Weston plays a Plains and an AEther Vial and passes. At least I know what he drew.
My draw step yields Polluted Delta. It looks like I'm gonna get to go Vault plundering. I play the Delta and pass.
Weston's Vial goes to one and he plays Karakas and Stoneforge Mystic for Batterskull. At the end of his turn I break the Delta for a Swamp, going to 16, and play Lim-Dul's Vault. I have Grim Tutor, Dark Ritual and Duress in hand and the Vault will be the fifth card in omy graveyard, so I just want some mana, preferably an LED. My first pile contains:
Ponder, Brainstorm, Volcanic Island, Lotus Petal, Past in Flames
Man, why couldn't I have had these five cards for my opener? Sometimes an early Lim-Dul's Vault can just find a bunch of cantrips, but I know Weston will be able to present a pretty fast clock, so I go to 15 life and see a new five:
Lion's Eye Diamond, Cabal Ritual, Ponder, Probe, Scalding Tarn
This gives me the mana I need, but over the course of two turns. Unfortunately, since I only have Grim Tutor, I can't risk paying too much life. I stop here and put the cards back as above.
I draw LED for my turn. I don't want to cast it yet, though. I'll need the storm and my plan can't beat a Thalia off the top anyway. The questions now is do I cast Duress. Taking Batterskull and adding a card to my graveyard seems like a good plan. However, Aven Mindcensor would be trouble. I decide to just pass the turn. This way, Weston won't be able to do anything on his turn and then he'll have to choose between losing Batterskull or casting Mindcensor. I pass the turn and hope Weston's top card isn't Thalia.
Weston plays a Plains and passes. That might spell trouble. I know he has a Horizon Canopy, so playing Plains comes at a slight information cost. It's possible Weston hasn't considered this, but it's also possible he doesn't want to take a point of damage to cast his instant speed three mana spell.
I draw Cabal Ritual. Time to go for it. Dark Ritual (S1, BBB) into Duress (S2, BB). Weston activates Stoneforge Mystic. Ding! Batterskull comes into play and Duress reveals
Stoneforge Mystic, Stoneforge Mystic, Horizon Canopy, Flickerwisp
It appears the top of my deck has been much nicer to me than Weston's has to him.
Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBBB), LED (S4, BBBBB) and Grim Tutor, breaking the LED for red mana (S5, BBRRR) for Past in Flames (S6, B), then flashback Dark Ritual (S7, BBB) and Cabal Ritual (S8, BBBBBB). With six mana, I can't flashback Grim Tutor for Tendrils. Tap Island and flashback Lim-Dul's Vault (S9, BBBBB). Wait, I did have enough mana. Shoot. Tendrils happens to be in the top five cards, though. Whew. Flashback Gitaxian Probe (S10, BBBBB) and flip over the Tendrils.
I board as in round one:
Sideboarding:
+3 Massacre, +2 Chain of Vapor
-4 Duress, -1 Ad Nauseum
On the draw, I'm looking for a very explosive hand or a hand with sideboard cards. My opening seven is neither:
Lion's Eye Diamond, Lion's Eye Diamond, Ponder, Cabal Therapy, Brainstorm, Ponder, Sensei's Divining Top
Back to Paris! Weston joins me again. My girlfriend is starting to get jealous.
(Obviously I'm kidding. I don't have a girlfriend.)
Weston is satisfied with his six. My six is:
Gitaxian Probe, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Polluted Delta, Tropical Island, Swamp
Hm. Once again, this hand probably doesn't do enough. Well, five worked last time!
Volcanic Island, Chain of Vapor, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Cabal Ritual
Not likely to get much better than that!
Weston starts on Karakas and passes.
I draw a Lion's Eye Diamond. Now that I can get hellent on cue, there's basically no reason to get my Volcanic Island Wastelanded, so I just pass. This elicits a look from Weston, so I shrug.
Weston plays a Rishadan Port and a Spirit of the Labyrinth. I don't have any cantrips at the moment, but even in Blade of the Sixth Pride mode, that card is annoying.
My draw step does not yield a lethal Infernal Tutor, but an Island isn't bad either. I play it. If Weston wants to keep up two lands to tap it, that's fine with me.
Weston draws, plays a Wasteland and a Thalia before attacking for three. Thalia is certainly fine for him, but I have the Chain, so I'm not too worried yet.
My draw step yield another Lotus petal. I tap Island to play it so I can have Chain for Thalia up if I don't get Ported.
Weston attacks for five, leaving me at twelve, and passes back, Porting my Island during my upkeep.
I draw a Cabal Ritual and pass.
Weston attacks for another five, putting me to seven, and plays Rest in Peace, leaving up Wasteland. The prison gates are starting to swing shut.
I draw a Scalding Tarn and play it.
Weston attacks for five, putting me to two. I can't bounce Thalia yet because he can just replay it. He passes without any plays. I fetch an Underground Sea and Chain Thalia. Weston thinks for a moment and lays Waste to my dual land, which is fine with me: it means no Mindcensor.
My Island gets tapped during my upkeep and I knock the top of the deck and draw...Lotus Petal. On to game three.
Between games, Weston asks for the oracle text on Massacre. When he learns I need to control a Swamp, he then laughs and says he was holding three Plains when I didn't even have a one. I go to my sideboard and shuffle in two Duresses, then find them again to take back out.
With a look of frustration, Weston laments, "Great, I probably just reminded you to bring them in." I give him a smile.
My opening seven is finally keepable:
Underground Sea, Scalding Tarn, Poluted Delta, Sensei's Divining Top, Cabal Therapy, Lion's Eye Diamond, Infernal Tutor[\I]
Weston also keeps his seven and we manage to keep this match at a mere seven mulligans.
I lead on Sea into Top. If Weston wants to Waste me, that's fine. I have backup lands and it'll cost him his whole first turn. Also, fetchlands are very valuable with a Top in play.
Weston leads on Rishadan Port and then stops to think before playing AEther Vial. To me, this signifies he has a Pithing Needle as that's basically the only other spell he might cast for a colorless mana.
I use Top on my upkeep and see Gitaxian Probe, Ponder and Lion's Eye Diamond. I definitely want to draw Probe to go along with my Therapy, but I've got to decide between the second LED and the Ponder. I decide if he does have the Needle and I can't take it with Therapy, I'm going to need the Ponder. I draw the Probe for turn and pay two life to cast it, drawing Ponder and seeing
[I]Thalia, Thalia, Wasteland, Stoneforge Mystic, Pithing Needle, Karakas
Guess I was right about the Needle. I play Delta and fetch, catching myself just in time. Holding priority, I tap Top to draw the LED and shuffle the Top away. Missing that would have been pretty bad, but now his Needle is basically dead. I find a Swamp and Therapy away the Thalias. Weston frowns. "That's pretty good." I can't help but agree.
Weston's Vial goes to one. He draws and Wastes my Sea before playing Pithing Needle. "Lion's Eye Diamond." Maybe it's my imagination, but the room goes a bit quiet. For those of you who don't know, Pithing Needle reads "Activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can't be activated unless they're mana abilities" (emphasis mine), so Needling LED does very little. Fortunately, Weston notices neither the sudden quite nor the last clause of Pithing Needle.
I draw a Third Lion's Eye Diamond for my turn, giving me a hand of three LED, Infernal Tutor, Scalding Tarn and Ponder. I spend way too long looking for a winning line, even getting out some papaer and doing math in front of my opponent, but ultimately decide I can't get there. I go to sixteen to fetch an Island and Ponder into Probe, Delta, Cabal Ritual. That should give me the win next turn, barring a Thalia. Or a Rest in Peace. Or a Phyrexian Revoker. I stack the Probe on top of Delta and then the Ritual. Then I realize Spirit of the Labyrinth would shut off Probe, so I cast it now, going to fourteen, and seeing
Stoneforge Mystic, Stoneforge Mystic, Karakas
Alright, one draw step to go.
Weston puts his Vial to two and draws...Grafdigger's Cage. Rats!
I draw the Cabal Ritual and try again to find a winning line. Past in Flames is a no go. Ad Nauseum is in the board. Three LEDs, a Cabal Ritual, four Infernal Tutors and a Tendrils is only nine spells. If only I could tutor one more time....
And then I saw it.
Play Delta and fetch an Underground Sea. Play LED (S1), LED (S2), LED (S3), Cabal Ritual (S4, BBBBB), Infernal Tutor (S5, BBB), hold priority.
"Judge, my opponent has Pithing Needle in play naming Lion's Eye Diamond. Can I activate it for mana?"
"Yes."
A sullen look from Weston.
Crack all three LEDs for black (S5, 13B), resolve Infernal Tutor for Infernal Tutor (S6, 11B) for Infernal Tutor (S7, 9B) for Infernal Tutor (S8, BBBBBBB) for GRIM TUTOR (S9, BBBB) for Tendrils. We're on to the finals!
The other semifinal is between John (of round 5 fame) and Ralph on Esper Deathblade. I'm really not sure who I'm rooting for as both seem like decent matchups. After a drawn out battle between Jaces, Creeping Tar Pits, Abrupt Decays and Pernicious Deeds, Ralph comes up on top.
Well, I made it through seven rounds without playing against Force of Will, but I guess it couldn't last forever.
Finals: Ralph with Esper Deathblade
It turns out the first and second seeds both lost in the quarter finals, meaning I was guaranteed to play first in all of my game ones. This is especially important for Storm in elimination rounds when your opponent knows what you're playing. They already know what cards are dead and that they will need early interaction. Especially when Storm is on the play, sometimes opponents will mulligan into oblivion looking for a Force of Will.
I start on seven and gladly keep:
Polluted Delta, Polluted Delta, Duress, Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Infernal Tutor
Quite nearly the perfect hand. I can't quite go for it on turn one as Cabal Ritual will come up short of threshold when I try to flash it back. That's okay; Ralph kept his seven and I don't want to run into Force of Will
Wasteland just puts cards in the graveyard for me anyway, so I fetch Underground Sea and then Duress. Ralph reveals
Underground Sea, Flooded Strand, Deathrite Shaman, Snapcaster Mage, Snapcaster Mage, Jace, Inquisition of Kozilek
He kept this hand against me? I take Inquisition and pass.
His draw gets a raised eyebrow and a "That's a good card." I'm not buying it. He plays the Underground Sea and the Deathrite Shaman and passes.
I draw Ad Nauseum for my turn. Interesting. I'm not buying his "good card" ruse, but now I don't have to go all in. Fetch another Underground Sea (going to 18) and Dark Ritual (S1, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S2, BBBB), tap my other Sea for Ad Nauseum (S3). It resolves. With a Tutor and an LED already in hand, I find enough to kill him with ten life left. I throw in a Cabal Therapy (for Mindbreak Trap) for good measure. Ralph had draw Polluted Delta.
Sideboarding:
+2 Xantid Swarm, +2 Abrupt Decay, +1 Defense Grid
-2 Ponder, -1 Grim Tutor, -1 Cabal Ritual, -1 Duress
I openly lament my sideboard. Ralph almost certainly has Meddling Mage, but bringing in Massacre means taking out Ad Nauseum. Maybe Dark Confidant is good? I settle on sideboarding as above, but I'm not happy about it.
Ralph mulligans to six while I look at:
Probe, Duress, Underground Sea, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseum, Cabal Ritual, Lim-Dul's Vault
This hand pretty much packs it in to Wasteland, but is solid otherwise. I decide to keep.
Ralph keeps six and starts on Marsh Flats. He sacrifices it and I prepare to show him my hand, but he gets an Tropical Island. The judge watching our match points out he can't do that. He finds an Underground Sea instead.
I draw an Abrupt Decay and then cast Probe, drawing LED and seeing
Counterspell, Meddling Mage, Brainstorm, Stoneforge Mystic, Scrubland
He won't be casting Counterspell for a while anyway, so I'd rather force him to use his Brainstorm now. I Duress him. He indeed Brainstorms in response and then shows me
Meddling Mage, Meddling Mage, Scrubland, Lilana of the Veil, Lilana of the Veil
Yuck. I'm forced to take Liliana. At least I know his hand for the next two turns.
He draws and plays the Scrubland and the Meddling Mage. I now realize I should have cast Lion's Eye Diamond. It doesn't matter as he names Dark Ritual.
Aside: The "default" card to name with Meddling Mage is Infernal Tutor as most winning lines require at least one Infernal Tutor. A slightly more greedy name is Lion's Eye Diamond. The goal of naming LED is to shut off not only LED itself but also Infernal Tutor by making it much harder to get hellbent, especially if the Storm player has an LED stranded in their hand. While Dark Ritual is certainly powerful, it is usually a poor name in the blind.
Of course, naming Dark Ritual turns out to be great here.
As I'm wishing he'd named Infernal Tutor, I draw one for my turn. I make up for my mistake last turn and play LED. I now have an LED and an Underground Sea in play and
Ad Nauseum, Dark Ritual, Infernal Tutor, Cabal Ritual, Abrupt Decay, Lim-Dul's Vault
in hand.
Ralph draws and I know his hand is now
Liliana, Meddling Mage, Stoneforge Mystic, Counterspell
He attacks with Meddling Mage and plays the second, naming Infernal Tutor. I suppose I should be careful what I wish for.
I draw Defense Grid. It seems unlikely this card will be good this game. I pass.
Meddling Mages attack me to twelve and a Flooded Strand finds a Tropical Island as Ralph summons Liliana. He +1's her, discarding Stoneforge Mystic as I discard Ad Nauseum. He's down to just a Counterspell.
I desperately need a land, but draw Xantid Swarm instead.
Ralph draws and ticks up Liliana again, discarding Deathrite Shaman as I discard Defense Grid. I get attacked to eight.
I draw a Polluted Delta and play it. Finally. Unfortunately, I can't do anything while the Mage naming Infernal Tutor is on the board, so I pass.
Ralph draws and attacks. I fetch Tropical Island and Decay the Mage naming Infernal Tutor. After combat I am at five. Liliana goes to six and I discard Dark Ritual. Ralph discards Counterspell. That can't be good.
I draw Gitaxian Probe but Ralph has Vendilion Clique during my draw step. He takes my Infernal Tutor and replaces it with a Polluted Delta. Rude.
Ralph declares me dead. I have other plans.
I play the Delta and fetch, going to four. Because of Ralph's Vendilion Clique, Cabal Ritual is the second spell of the turn (S2, BBBBB). I go to two to cast Gitaxian Probe (S3, BBBBB), hold priority and tap my last land to play Lim-Dul's Vault (S4, BBBB) and crack LED for red (S4, BBBBRRR). Lim-Dul's Vault resolves:
Ponder, Brainstorm, Volcanic Island, Lotus Petal, Abrupt Decay
No good. Go to one.
Infernal Tutor, Cabal Therapy, Xantid Swarm, Lotus Petal, LED[I]
No Past in Flames makes me a sad boy. Infernal Tutor is almost good enough, but Meddling Mage on Dark Ritual means Tutoring for Past in Flames gets me nowhere. All I can do is draw Infernal Tutor and cast it (S5, BBBRR) for Tendrils, putting Ralph to six and me to thirteen.
Ralph attacks me to eight and destroys an Underground Sea by ultimating Liliana.
I draw a Brainstorm. Technically not dead yet.
Ralph plays an Underground Sea and attacks me to three.
I draw a Gitaxian Probe. I go to one to cast it, and Ralph has Notion Thief. I respond with Brainstorm, but I know no one card can save me, and I scoop after looking at the top three.
Sideboarding:
+2 Abrupt Decay, +1 Defense Grid
-1 Ponder, -1 Grim Tutor, -1 Cabal Ritual
Xantid Swarm is pretty awful if he has Liliana. I still have no idea if Massacre or Ad Nauseum is better. I decide the mantra of the day is "better lucky than good" and keep Ad Nauseum.
I am on the play for the final game. Both Ralph and I mulligan to six. I keep:
[I]Delta, Volcanic Island, Cabal Ritual, Ponder, Lotus Petal, Infernal Tutor
I start on Volcanic Island into Ponder and see Brainstorm, Duress, Scalding Tarn. I draw the Tarn and leave Brainstorm on top of Duress.
Ralph plays an Underground Sea and a Deathrite Shaman.
I draw Brainstorm which yeilds Duress, Cabal Ritual and Abrupt Decay. The Decay and Petal are returned and Delta shuffles them away. I find a Swamp and Duress Ralph, seeing
Tundra, Stoneforge Mystic, Sword of Fire and Ice, Batterskull, Mana Leak
Well, that's a Mana Leak alright. I take it.
Ralph draws, plays Tundra and Stoneforge Mystic, checks his sideboard to confirm he has no more equipment and shuffles. At this point, there are four cards in my graveyard. I have a fetchland in hand, so a Petal or a Dark Ritual let me go off next turn as long as Deathrite Shaman can't remove the land in my graveyard. After passing Ralph's deck back to him, I pick up my pen. Ralph complies and attacks me for one.
I draw Lotus Petal. Scalding Tarn, fetch for Island (Graveyard: 5). Lotus Petal, sacrifice for black (G:6, S1, B), tap Island for Cabal Ritual (G:7, S2, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBBBB), Infernal Tutor (S4, BBBB), tap Volcanic for Past in Flames (S5, B), tap Swamp to flashback Cabal Ritual (S6, BBBBB), flashback Cabal Ritual (S7, 8B), Infernal Tutor (S8, BBBBB) for Infernal Tutor (S9, BBBB) for Tendrils.
And that's a tournament! For my efforts, I received an Unlimited Underground Sea and a Revised Tundra. Not bad for $25!
It turns out Ralph doesn't even play Force of Will, instead opting for the aforementioned Counterspell and Mana Leaks. I guess I'm glad playing around it in game one didn't cost me.
Props:
- My opponents for being great guys. And also for not playing Force of Will.
- Grim Tutor. You were worth every penny in that semifinal match.
- Dice. I got to be on the play for every single game 1.
- Ed Sloman. Seriously, free pizza!?
Slops:
- My note taking skills. This was my first effort, and I learned a lot about what I need to write down.
- My decklist-filling-out skills. Seriously embarassing.
- Crippling social anxiety preventing me from just introducing myself to John. Why is making friends hard?
Thanks for reading!
I've spent many years as a lurker on these boards, but I finally felt the time had come to register a user name and contribute. I recently played in The Legacy Gala at Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, Maryland and thought my experience would make for an interesting report. I played my take on Ad Nauseum Tendrils:
Main Deck:
4x Polluted Delta
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Underground Sea
1x Badlands
1x Island
1x Swamp
1x Tropical Island
1x Volcanic Island
4x Cabal Ritual
4x Dark Ritual
4x Lion's Eye Diamond
4x Lotus Petal
4x Brainstorm
4x Ponder
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Duress
3x Cabal Therapy
4x Infernal Tutor
1x Ad Nauseum
1x Grim Tutor
1x Lim-Dul's Vault
1x Past in Flames
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Tendrils of Agony
Sideboard:
3x Dark Confidant
3x Massacre
2x Chain of Vapor
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Xantid Swarm
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Defense Grid
I was very happy with my main deck. I've found four tutor effects to be too few and usually play five or six. Infernal Tutor has no true peer, but Lim-Dul's Vault and Grim Tutor both have their advantages and disadvantages, so I played one of each. Sensei's Divining Top is another personal favorite. Oft derided for being slow, it provides some uniquely fast natural Ad Nauseums by turning LED into Black Lotus. It is also fantastic against discard and in Past in Flames loops with lots of mana but few cantrips. Finally, I've played an Empty the Warrens in the past, either in the main or the board, but I decided to forgo it today based on the decks I expected to show up. I played the seventh discard spell in it's place.
I guess now we have to talk about my sideboard. It is horridly misbuilt. It was designed with the popular decks in my metagame in mind: Death and Taxes, Life from the Loam strategies, and Miracles. The mistake I made was to jam a bunch of cards that are good in specific matchups into my board without any real plan. This is a bad idea for most decks, but is particularly toxic for engine decks like Storm where each card boarded in is inherently less good at comboing off that the main deck card it replaces. Without a real boarding plan, I ended up with too many cards for a few matchups as we'll see in my matches.
I showed up at Games and Stuff a little before 11. My $25 entry fee bought me my chance to play for 5 revised duals, 1 unlimited dual and a set of Force of Wills split among top 8. The TO guaranteed prizes at 24 players but only 22 showed up. Fortunately, Ed Sloman loves Magic players and honored the original prize structure. He even threw in free pizza! I'm not sure if the man loves Magic players or just hates money, but he sure knows how to run a great tournament. We started round 1 shortly after 11.
Round 1: Kurt playing Death and Taxes
Kurt recognized me. I knew we'd met, but I couldn't put him on a deck. I win the die roll and open a beauty:
Probe, Island, Delta, Brainstorm, Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lotus Petal
I open on Probe, drawing a replacement Probe, and see:
Spirit of the Labyrinth, Wasteland, Aven Mindcensor, Cavern of Souls, Karakas, Mother of Runes, Thalia
Ugh, Thalia. Well, it isn't coming down until turn two. Might as well wait on these cantrips. Play Island and pass. Hopefully five new cards next turn will be enough to win.
Kurt plays Cavern, naming human, plays Mother of Runes and passes.
I draw Badlands, Probe into LED (Kurt drew AEther Vial), and Brainstorm into Tarn, Tropical Island and Duress. Gross. I put back Tropical Island and Tarn, play Delta, crack for a Swamp and cast Duress taking Kurt's Vial. I now have five cards in the yard. I play LED and Petal to get under Thalia. Pass with Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual and Badlands in hand and Petal and LED in play.
Kurt plays Wasteland into Thalia. Sigh.
I draw Ad Nausem. It's unlikely I get a better chance than this. Play Badlands. Break a Petal and tap Island for Dark Ritual (Storm 1, BBB). Cabal Ritual is thresholded (S2, BBBBB). Tap Swamp to play Ad Nauseum, breaking LED for three blue (S3, UUU). I'm at 15 after two Probes and a fetch.
Ad Nauseum flips (omitting lands):
Brainstorm (14)
Ponder (13)
Infernal Tutor (11)
Ponder (10)
Sensei's Divining Top (9)
Cabal Ritual (7)
Tendrils of Agony (3)
Lion's Eye Diamond (3)
I have three mana floating, plus an untapped Badlands. Accouting for Thalia, Cabal Ritual puts me to six mana and LED puts me to eight. Tutor leaves me with five and Past in Flames with zero. Not enough. I need a Cabal Ritual or an LED and I need it now.
Cabal Ritual (1)
Well that was fortunate. Tap Badlands and play Cabal Ritual (S4, BBBBBU), LED (S5, BBBBB), Cabal Ritual (S6, BBBBBBB), Infernal Tutor breaking LED for red (S7, BBBBRRR) finding and casting Past in Flames (S8, BB). Flashback Dark Ritual (S9, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S10, BBBBB), Tendrils for 22. Got there.
Sideboarding:
+3 Massacre, +2 Chain of Vapor
-4 Duress, -1 Ad Nauseum
Massacre should need no explanation. .hain of Vapor can take care of an unprotected Thalia or any number of annoying things. Most of the cards we care about are creatures, so Duress is pretty weak. Ad Nauseum is less good when adding three cards with converted mana cost four to our deck.
Kurt keeps his seven in game two, and I open:
Chain of Vapor, Massacre, Brainstorm, Infernal Tutor, Delta, Tarn, Cabal Therapy
This hand is fine. Post-board my goal is to play a more controlling game, shaping my hand and answering threats until I can start counting to ten.
Kurt starts with Plains into AEther Vial. I draw a Tropical Island, play Scaling Tarn, and pass. If he has the Spirit again I can Brainstorm in response, but otherwise I'd rather wait until my turn.
Kurt plays a Wasteland and passes. Because I have the Massacre, I fetch an Island and Chain the Vial. This will slow down his threes and helps to get hellbent for the Tutor. Kurt makes a Mother of Runes.
I draw Ponder for turn. Now things get interesting. I can definitely hit the Vial with Therapy, but is there something better waiting? Well, let's start with Brainstorm. I draw Dark Ritual, LED, Dark Ritual. Quite the Brainstorm! I put back Tropical Island and Massacre, play Delta, crack it for a Swamp, play Dark Ritual (S2, BBB), Dark Ritual (S3, BBBBB), LED (S4, BBBBB), Infernal Tutor breaking LED for red (S5, BBBRRR). I find and cast Past in Flames (S6, BB), flashback Ritual (S7, BBBB), Ritual (S8, BBBBBB), Tutor (S9, BBBB) and Tendrils for 20.
Remember kids, better lucky than good.
As I'm waiting for the next round, a few Miracles players who I know walk into the shop. Apparently they thought the event started at noon. Unfortunate for them, but I won't complain!
Round 2: Mark with Ad Nauseum Tendrils
Mark is a good friend of mine. A long time RUG player, I was recently able to tempt him with the dark arts and he won himself a set of LEDs on his first try Storming. We're very familiar with each other's lists. I'm hoping my extra main deck discard spell and sideboard Dark Confidants and Surigcal Extractions will give me the edge.
Unfortunately I've lost my notes on this round. In game 1, I Ponder and Brainstorm some and have the option of Tendrils for 14 on turn two. Being up 33 to 6 is big in the ANT mirror because it is very hard to Ad Nauseum from six, but getting to storm 17 is quite hard without Ad Nauseum. The downside is I will have an empty hand and a mostly empty graveyard making Mark's discard spells all the more powerful. Instead, I decide to force Mark to have it on turn two. He doesn't, and I Ad Nauseum on turn 3 for the win.
Sideboarding:
+3 Dark Confidant, +2 Surgical Extraction
-1 Ad Nauseum, -1 Ponder, -1 Grim Tutor, -1 Lim-Dul's Vault, -1 Cabal Ritual
Here is an example of my sideboard having no real plan. I decide to pursue the control route and force Mark to be the beatdown. Ad Nauseum doesn't play well with Bob, so it gets cut. Then I shave where possible. In particular, Dark Confidant can help find Tutors, so I cut the worse two.
In game two, I open on
Past in Flames, Ponder, Duress, Surgical Extraction, Tropical Island, Island, Scalding Tarn
Mark Probes me a few times before Duressing my Surgical. This is good news. Not only do we get to keep our Duress, but Mark must have someting worth Extracting. I draw a second Duress and Duress him and indeed see Tendrils of Agony. Unfortunately I can't flashback Surgical yet, so I take an Infernal Tutor. Mark can't kill me, and I draw LED. I Ponder into lands and Cabal Ritual, leaving the Ritual on top. I play the LED and Duress Tendrils. Mark Duresses me and is forced to take Past in Flames. I draw Cabal Ritual, use it and LED to flashback Past in Flames, then flashback Surgical targeting Tendrils. Mark concedes.
Playing a buddy sucks. I'd much rather have met Mark in the Top 8.
Game 3: Mike with Elves.
I've seen Mike around, but I have no idea what he could be playing. My die rolling streak continues and I open:
Probe, Cabal Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Petal, Ad Nauseum, Underground Sea, Duress
Deal. Probe draws a Tarn and reveals:
Elvish Visionary, Elvish Visionary, Wirewood Symbiote, Gaea's Cradle, Dryad Arbor, Wooded Foothills
This one looks good for us. Mike plays Foothills, fetches a Bayou and plays Symbiote. I fetch a Sea with Tarn then play Petal, Ritual, Ritual and cast Ad Nauseum. Ten life later, we kill him.
Sideboarding:
+2 Chain of Vapor, +1 Abrupt Decay
-1 Duress, -1 Sensei's Divining Top, -1 Ponder
Normally I like playing some Massacre and some Pyroclasm in my board. Today I was not expecting Elves. Massacre is bad because if they have a Plains it is almost always because they used it to cast Gaddock Teeg, patron saint of Elves not being Massacred. Chain can bounce Teeg. Decay kills him dead. I could try Surgicals, but they are particularly weak against Elves because so many of their cards are redundant; hitting anything other than Natural Order hardly matters. Top is a little slow and Duress only hits 10-12 cards, although they are the more important cards.
Mike mulligans to six and keeps after some deliberation. I keep:
Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Swamp, Delta, Probe, Therapy
Mike starts on Forest into Quirion Ranger. No black source or discard bodes well for me. My draw step yields a land, as does Probe, which sees:
Quirion Ranger, Scavenging Ooze, Wirewood Symbiote, Windswept Heath
I play a Swamp and Therapy away the Ooze.
Mike draws and fetches a Bayou before playing his Symbiote and a Deathrite Shaman and attacking for one.
My draw step produces a Dark Ritual. Not what I need. Pass.
Mike plays out his second Ranger and attack for two.
I draw another land. This is starting to get uncomfortable. Deathrite Shaman eats Probe at end of turn.
Mike draws and plays a Deathrite Shaman. I'm attacked for three, putting me at ten.
I draw Ad Nauseum. This is hardle ideal. Mike's Deathrite Shaman puts me at a virtual 8. On the other hand, things aren't getting any better next turn. Let's go for it:
Dark Ritual (S1, BBB), Dark Ritual (S2, BBBBB), Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBBBB), LED (S4, BBBBBB), Ad Nauseum (S5, B)
I flip:
Dark Ritual (9)
Chain of Vapor (8)
Cabal Ritual (6)
Therapy (5)
Past in Flames (1)
Well, I'm dead. I stop and Deathrite kills me as soon as Mike gets priority.
Sideboarding:
+1 Chain of Vapor, +1 Abrupt Decay
-1 Duress, -1 Sensei's Divining Top
On the play I'd rather have the extra cantrip. I wasn't sure whether Chain or Decay would be better, so I hedged. It turns out Mike plays Ruric Thar, making this a very poor choice.
Game three was one of my favorite games I've ever played with Storm. Unfortunately, we were a little tight on time and my notes suffered.
I sent back a hand that did nothing while Mike kept his seven. I kept
Tropical Island, Brainstorm, Scalding Tarn, Lim-Dul's Vault, Ad Nauseum, Dark Ritual
This hand is all over the place. Lim-Dul's Vault and Ad Nauseum tend to be a nonbo, but Brainstorm can draw multiple cards that have been set up by the Vault. I play the Tropical Island and pass.
Mike uses a Windswept Heath to find a Savannah. This almost certainly means he has Gaddock Teeg in hand. He casts a Deathrite Shaman.
I draw a Cabal Ritual. Ideally, Mike will do nothing and I can use Lim-Dul's Vault to set up an easy win by finding Infernal Tutor and LED. I play the Scalding Tarn and pass.
It turns out Mike has other plans. He starts by sacrificing Verdant Catacombs, finding Bayou, then plays Green Sun's Zenith for one, finding Quirion Ranger. He exiles one of his fetches with Deathrite Shaman, returns his Savannah to untap it, then exile his other fetch and plays Gaddock Teeg. My fears have been confirmed. At the end of Mike's turn, I fetch up a Badlands (19 life), boldly proclaim that a perfect Storm player would win this game, and cast Lim-Dul's Vault.
I need to find a few things. First, I need an answer to Gaddock Teeg. I'd also like to fill up my graveyard for Cabal Ritual. A Tutor would be great, as would an LED.
The top twenty cards fail to yeild an answer to Teeg. At 15 life, I see
Chain of Vapor, Underground Sea, Past in Flames, Gitaxian Probe, Brainstorm
When I untap, my graveyard will only have a fetch and the Vault. Brainstorm makes three, Probe makes four, Chain makes five and Dark Ritual makes six; one short of threshold. If I keep Vaulting, however, I effectively turn off Ad Nauseum. Let's try and make this work. Stop at fifteen, stack the cards as listed above.
I draw Chain and pass.
Mike has two Glimpse of Nature to make things interesting. He draws approximately six hundred cards and floods the board with tapped Elves, but eventually runs out of mana. Fortunately, his own Gaddock Teeg is shutting off his Natural Orders. He attacks with Gaddock Teeg and Quirion Ranger. I can't Chain the Teeg yet as he can sacrifice lands to turn on his Deathrite Shaman. I take three and go to twelve. At the end of Mike's turn, I Chain Teeg.
I draw the Sea that I know is on top. I now have Sea, Trop and Badlands in play and Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Brainstorm and Ad Nauseum in hand. It is tempting to Ad Nauseum with an extra mana, but I know the Past in Flames is on top - ouch! I Brainstorm first, putting Sea and Probe on top (S1). Then I cast Dark Ritual (S2, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBB), tap our last land and Ad Nauseum (S4), floating 0, at 12 life, with Past in Flames in Hand.
I Ad Nauseum down to two life, finding two LEDs, a Petal and a Dark Ritual for mana, but only Grim Tutor and some cantrips for action. I play Petal, Dark Ritual, LED, LED and discard my hand to flashback Past in Flames. I have access to a ton of black mana, but only three blue mana. There are 39 cards left in my deck. The plan is to Lim-Dul's Vault (from two life!) to find Infernal Tutor or the Tendrils. I make a huge mistake and start by flashing back a Gitaxian Probe (paying with blue mana). Since I have already played a land, if I draw into a land I now need to Brainstorm to get hellbent. Fortunately, I hit a spell. 38 cards left, and 5 hits. I flashback the Vault...and find an Infernal Tutor in the top five. Therapy myself to get hellbent, spend my last blue mana to flashback a second Probe, draw Tutor and find Tendrils for the win!
That spectale gathered a small crowd. So much for hiding what I'm on.
Apparently not everyone has learned that Legacy is all about combo decks, and several players have unintentionally drawn. My good buddy Jason and I are the only two 3-0s. We look at the math and realize we're both locks for Top 8 with a draw even if we have to play next round and lose.
Round 4: Jason with Sneak and Show
ID
Sneak and Show isn't a fantastic matchup, especially because I know Jason has Leylines. I'm happy we don't have to play.
Even more draws occur. The math says a round 5 draw will put me in second or third. Sounds good to me!
Round 5: John with BUG Landstill
John agrees to draw. He will end up in fifth. Although he has Force of Will, Spell Snare and more countermagic in the board, his deck is glacially slow so I feel this matchup should be favorable and I'm happy to put him in the Top 8. I also would have liked to play him, however, as I've seen him at a number of events and know he's regarded as a very good player. I'd like to play him to get a chance to know him. Oh well, maybe in the Top 8.
I sort my deck and hand it to the judge for the Top 8 Deck Check.
Top 8: Matt with Jund Depths
Aha! Another matchup I'd prepared for. This matchup tends to favor ANT (despite the recent SCG Open top 8 match!). Preboard he has only Raven's Crime and Bojuka Bog to interact. Past in Flames does a good job of winning through Raven's Crime, so he really needs both. Post board he could have any number of things, including Sphere of Resistance, Thorn of Amethyst, Trinisphere, Chalice of the Void, or discard spells. I get Surgicals to combat his Loams.
Speaking of surgicals, it is at this point that the unimaginable happens: I receive a game loss for improperly registering my deck. Apparently, I had not listed my Surgicals in my sideboard. This is an embarassing enough mistake for any player to make, but as a Level 2 judge, this one particularly stings. Looks like I'll have to win two in a row. Fortunately, as third seed, I get to be on the play.
I open on:
Tendrils of Agony, Cabal Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Probe, Past in Flames, Infernal Tutor, Scalding Tarn
This hand is even better than it looks. Not only does it have the potential for a turn two or three kill, but it has Past in Flames to protect against Raven's Crime. I Probe Matt, drawing another Infernal Tutor, seeing
Faithless Looting, Entomb, Smallpox, Life from the Loam, Wasteland, Grove of the Burnwillows, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
I play Scalding Tarn and pass.
Matt plays Urborg and passes. Cool! Now I could fetch for an Island that acts like an Underground Sea but is safe from Wasteland. No need for that yet, though.
I draw another Cabal Ritual. Can't do anything, so I pass. Matt Entombs a Raven's Crime.
If Matt decides he wants to Smallpox me, I might be in trouble as I'll need to find two mana sources. Fortunately, his Entomb suggests he wants to Crime me out, a plan I am much more prepared to handle.
On his turn, Matt plays Grove and Crimes me twice. I discard Infernal Tutor, then Tendrils. Now I just have to dodge Bojuka Bog. He doesn't have green mana up, so Crop Rotation isn't an issue until his next turn.
I draw a third Infernal Tutor. Another blank. This is getting old. Pass.
Once again, Matt could Smallpox me right out. Instead, he consults the Loam (safe from Crop Rotation again!) and retraces Raven's Crime. I discard Past in Flames.
I draw Dark Ritual. Ding! Crack Tarn for Sea, play Dark Ritual (S1, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S2, BBBB), Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBBB), Infernal Tutor for Cabal Ritual (S4, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S5, BBBBBB), Cabal Ritual (S6, 9B), Infernal Tutor (S7, BBBBBBB) for LED (S8, BBBBBBB), crack for red and flashback Past in Flames (S9, BBBBB), Tendrils for 20.
Sideboarding:
+2 Chain of Vapor, +2 Surgical Extraction
-3 Cabal Therapy, -1 Cabal Ritual
Jund Depths tends to vary widely from list to list; I don't want to have to guess what my opponent has with a blind Therapy, especially when I need to win the only sideboard game.
The second game went by in a blur. My opening hand once again had Past in Flames. Matt mulliganned to six and his Raven's Crime helps me discard the cards I can't cast allowing me to kill on turn three unimpeded.
Jason (from round 4) was matched up against Weston, who was on Death and Taxes. Jason managed to push it to three games, but ultimately fell to his bad matchup. Guess that means I get to avenge him!
Top 4: Weston with Death and Taxes
Weston is relatively new to Legacy, but he's quickly gotten quite good. A few weeks ago, Weston beat Mark in the Swiss before losing to him in top 8. I fear the loss has left him hungry for revenge.
Once again, I am the higher seed. I open:
Ad Nauseum, Island, Volcanic Island, Duress, Cabal Therapy, Cabal Therapy, Lim-Dul's Vault
This isn't a great hand against any opponent, but it definitely isn't doing it against Death and Taxes. I mulligan and Weston is gentlemanly enough to join me on my trip to Paris.
Six cards:
Scalding Tarn, Polluted Delta, Polluted Delta, Volcanic Island, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal[I]
Well, I suppose this hand beats Thalia, but that's about it. I mulligan again. So does Weston. At least we're in this miserable battle together.
Five cards then:
[I]Grim Tutor, Lim-Dul's Vault, Duress, Ponder, Polluted Delta
I'm really tempted to go to four. Grim Tutor and Lim-Dul's Vault really don't go together well. I have Ponder and can cast it, though, so I'll have to make due. Weston keeps five as well.
I fetch an Island with Delta as there's no sense in losing to Wasteland. I Ponder into Cabal Therapy, Cabal Ritual, Ad Nauseum. I don't have the draw steps to waste on those, so I shuffle and draw Probe. I Probe Weston and see
Stoneforge Mystic, Stoneforge Mystic, Horizon Canopy, Plains, Karakas
while drawing a Dark Ritual. At least his hand isn't great either.
Weston plays a Plains and an AEther Vial and passes. At least I know what he drew.
My draw step yields Polluted Delta. It looks like I'm gonna get to go Vault plundering. I play the Delta and pass.
Weston's Vial goes to one and he plays Karakas and Stoneforge Mystic for Batterskull. At the end of his turn I break the Delta for a Swamp, going to 16, and play Lim-Dul's Vault. I have Grim Tutor, Dark Ritual and Duress in hand and the Vault will be the fifth card in omy graveyard, so I just want some mana, preferably an LED. My first pile contains:
Ponder, Brainstorm, Volcanic Island, Lotus Petal, Past in Flames
Man, why couldn't I have had these five cards for my opener? Sometimes an early Lim-Dul's Vault can just find a bunch of cantrips, but I know Weston will be able to present a pretty fast clock, so I go to 15 life and see a new five:
Lion's Eye Diamond, Cabal Ritual, Ponder, Probe, Scalding Tarn
This gives me the mana I need, but over the course of two turns. Unfortunately, since I only have Grim Tutor, I can't risk paying too much life. I stop here and put the cards back as above.
I draw LED for my turn. I don't want to cast it yet, though. I'll need the storm and my plan can't beat a Thalia off the top anyway. The questions now is do I cast Duress. Taking Batterskull and adding a card to my graveyard seems like a good plan. However, Aven Mindcensor would be trouble. I decide to just pass the turn. This way, Weston won't be able to do anything on his turn and then he'll have to choose between losing Batterskull or casting Mindcensor. I pass the turn and hope Weston's top card isn't Thalia.
Weston plays a Plains and passes. That might spell trouble. I know he has a Horizon Canopy, so playing Plains comes at a slight information cost. It's possible Weston hasn't considered this, but it's also possible he doesn't want to take a point of damage to cast his instant speed three mana spell.
I draw Cabal Ritual. Time to go for it. Dark Ritual (S1, BBB) into Duress (S2, BB). Weston activates Stoneforge Mystic. Ding! Batterskull comes into play and Duress reveals
Stoneforge Mystic, Stoneforge Mystic, Horizon Canopy, Flickerwisp
It appears the top of my deck has been much nicer to me than Weston's has to him.
Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBBB), LED (S4, BBBBB) and Grim Tutor, breaking the LED for red mana (S5, BBRRR) for Past in Flames (S6, B), then flashback Dark Ritual (S7, BBB) and Cabal Ritual (S8, BBBBBB). With six mana, I can't flashback Grim Tutor for Tendrils. Tap Island and flashback Lim-Dul's Vault (S9, BBBBB). Wait, I did have enough mana. Shoot. Tendrils happens to be in the top five cards, though. Whew. Flashback Gitaxian Probe (S10, BBBBB) and flip over the Tendrils.
I board as in round one:
Sideboarding:
+3 Massacre, +2 Chain of Vapor
-4 Duress, -1 Ad Nauseum
On the draw, I'm looking for a very explosive hand or a hand with sideboard cards. My opening seven is neither:
Lion's Eye Diamond, Lion's Eye Diamond, Ponder, Cabal Therapy, Brainstorm, Ponder, Sensei's Divining Top
Back to Paris! Weston joins me again. My girlfriend is starting to get jealous.
(Obviously I'm kidding. I don't have a girlfriend.)
Weston is satisfied with his six. My six is:
Gitaxian Probe, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Polluted Delta, Tropical Island, Swamp
Hm. Once again, this hand probably doesn't do enough. Well, five worked last time!
Volcanic Island, Chain of Vapor, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Cabal Ritual
Not likely to get much better than that!
Weston starts on Karakas and passes.
I draw a Lion's Eye Diamond. Now that I can get hellent on cue, there's basically no reason to get my Volcanic Island Wastelanded, so I just pass. This elicits a look from Weston, so I shrug.
Weston plays a Rishadan Port and a Spirit of the Labyrinth. I don't have any cantrips at the moment, but even in Blade of the Sixth Pride mode, that card is annoying.
My draw step does not yield a lethal Infernal Tutor, but an Island isn't bad either. I play it. If Weston wants to keep up two lands to tap it, that's fine with me.
Weston draws, plays a Wasteland and a Thalia before attacking for three. Thalia is certainly fine for him, but I have the Chain, so I'm not too worried yet.
My draw step yield another Lotus petal. I tap Island to play it so I can have Chain for Thalia up if I don't get Ported.
Weston attacks for five, leaving me at twelve, and passes back, Porting my Island during my upkeep.
I draw a Cabal Ritual and pass.
Weston attacks for another five, putting me to seven, and plays Rest in Peace, leaving up Wasteland. The prison gates are starting to swing shut.
I draw a Scalding Tarn and play it.
Weston attacks for five, putting me to two. I can't bounce Thalia yet because he can just replay it. He passes without any plays. I fetch an Underground Sea and Chain Thalia. Weston thinks for a moment and lays Waste to my dual land, which is fine with me: it means no Mindcensor.
My Island gets tapped during my upkeep and I knock the top of the deck and draw...Lotus Petal. On to game three.
Between games, Weston asks for the oracle text on Massacre. When he learns I need to control a Swamp, he then laughs and says he was holding three Plains when I didn't even have a one. I go to my sideboard and shuffle in two Duresses, then find them again to take back out.
With a look of frustration, Weston laments, "Great, I probably just reminded you to bring them in." I give him a smile.
My opening seven is finally keepable:
Underground Sea, Scalding Tarn, Poluted Delta, Sensei's Divining Top, Cabal Therapy, Lion's Eye Diamond, Infernal Tutor[\I]
Weston also keeps his seven and we manage to keep this match at a mere seven mulligans.
I lead on Sea into Top. If Weston wants to Waste me, that's fine. I have backup lands and it'll cost him his whole first turn. Also, fetchlands are very valuable with a Top in play.
Weston leads on Rishadan Port and then stops to think before playing AEther Vial. To me, this signifies he has a Pithing Needle as that's basically the only other spell he might cast for a colorless mana.
I use Top on my upkeep and see Gitaxian Probe, Ponder and Lion's Eye Diamond. I definitely want to draw Probe to go along with my Therapy, but I've got to decide between the second LED and the Ponder. I decide if he does have the Needle and I can't take it with Therapy, I'm going to need the Ponder. I draw the Probe for turn and pay two life to cast it, drawing Ponder and seeing
[I]Thalia, Thalia, Wasteland, Stoneforge Mystic, Pithing Needle, Karakas
Guess I was right about the Needle. I play Delta and fetch, catching myself just in time. Holding priority, I tap Top to draw the LED and shuffle the Top away. Missing that would have been pretty bad, but now his Needle is basically dead. I find a Swamp and Therapy away the Thalias. Weston frowns. "That's pretty good." I can't help but agree.
Weston's Vial goes to one. He draws and Wastes my Sea before playing Pithing Needle. "Lion's Eye Diamond." Maybe it's my imagination, but the room goes a bit quiet. For those of you who don't know, Pithing Needle reads "Activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can't be activated unless they're mana abilities" (emphasis mine), so Needling LED does very little. Fortunately, Weston notices neither the sudden quite nor the last clause of Pithing Needle.
I draw a Third Lion's Eye Diamond for my turn, giving me a hand of three LED, Infernal Tutor, Scalding Tarn and Ponder. I spend way too long looking for a winning line, even getting out some papaer and doing math in front of my opponent, but ultimately decide I can't get there. I go to sixteen to fetch an Island and Ponder into Probe, Delta, Cabal Ritual. That should give me the win next turn, barring a Thalia. Or a Rest in Peace. Or a Phyrexian Revoker. I stack the Probe on top of Delta and then the Ritual. Then I realize Spirit of the Labyrinth would shut off Probe, so I cast it now, going to fourteen, and seeing
Stoneforge Mystic, Stoneforge Mystic, Karakas
Alright, one draw step to go.
Weston puts his Vial to two and draws...Grafdigger's Cage. Rats!
I draw the Cabal Ritual and try again to find a winning line. Past in Flames is a no go. Ad Nauseum is in the board. Three LEDs, a Cabal Ritual, four Infernal Tutors and a Tendrils is only nine spells. If only I could tutor one more time....
And then I saw it.
Play Delta and fetch an Underground Sea. Play LED (S1), LED (S2), LED (S3), Cabal Ritual (S4, BBBBB), Infernal Tutor (S5, BBB), hold priority.
"Judge, my opponent has Pithing Needle in play naming Lion's Eye Diamond. Can I activate it for mana?"
"Yes."
A sullen look from Weston.
Crack all three LEDs for black (S5, 13B), resolve Infernal Tutor for Infernal Tutor (S6, 11B) for Infernal Tutor (S7, 9B) for Infernal Tutor (S8, BBBBBBB) for GRIM TUTOR (S9, BBBB) for Tendrils. We're on to the finals!
The other semifinal is between John (of round 5 fame) and Ralph on Esper Deathblade. I'm really not sure who I'm rooting for as both seem like decent matchups. After a drawn out battle between Jaces, Creeping Tar Pits, Abrupt Decays and Pernicious Deeds, Ralph comes up on top.
Well, I made it through seven rounds without playing against Force of Will, but I guess it couldn't last forever.
Finals: Ralph with Esper Deathblade
It turns out the first and second seeds both lost in the quarter finals, meaning I was guaranteed to play first in all of my game ones. This is especially important for Storm in elimination rounds when your opponent knows what you're playing. They already know what cards are dead and that they will need early interaction. Especially when Storm is on the play, sometimes opponents will mulligan into oblivion looking for a Force of Will.
I start on seven and gladly keep:
Polluted Delta, Polluted Delta, Duress, Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Infernal Tutor
Quite nearly the perfect hand. I can't quite go for it on turn one as Cabal Ritual will come up short of threshold when I try to flash it back. That's okay; Ralph kept his seven and I don't want to run into Force of Will
Wasteland just puts cards in the graveyard for me anyway, so I fetch Underground Sea and then Duress. Ralph reveals
Underground Sea, Flooded Strand, Deathrite Shaman, Snapcaster Mage, Snapcaster Mage, Jace, Inquisition of Kozilek
He kept this hand against me? I take Inquisition and pass.
His draw gets a raised eyebrow and a "That's a good card." I'm not buying it. He plays the Underground Sea and the Deathrite Shaman and passes.
I draw Ad Nauseum for my turn. Interesting. I'm not buying his "good card" ruse, but now I don't have to go all in. Fetch another Underground Sea (going to 18) and Dark Ritual (S1, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S2, BBBB), tap my other Sea for Ad Nauseum (S3). It resolves. With a Tutor and an LED already in hand, I find enough to kill him with ten life left. I throw in a Cabal Therapy (for Mindbreak Trap) for good measure. Ralph had draw Polluted Delta.
Sideboarding:
+2 Xantid Swarm, +2 Abrupt Decay, +1 Defense Grid
-2 Ponder, -1 Grim Tutor, -1 Cabal Ritual, -1 Duress
I openly lament my sideboard. Ralph almost certainly has Meddling Mage, but bringing in Massacre means taking out Ad Nauseum. Maybe Dark Confidant is good? I settle on sideboarding as above, but I'm not happy about it.
Ralph mulligans to six while I look at:
Probe, Duress, Underground Sea, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseum, Cabal Ritual, Lim-Dul's Vault
This hand pretty much packs it in to Wasteland, but is solid otherwise. I decide to keep.
Ralph keeps six and starts on Marsh Flats. He sacrifices it and I prepare to show him my hand, but he gets an Tropical Island. The judge watching our match points out he can't do that. He finds an Underground Sea instead.
I draw an Abrupt Decay and then cast Probe, drawing LED and seeing
Counterspell, Meddling Mage, Brainstorm, Stoneforge Mystic, Scrubland
He won't be casting Counterspell for a while anyway, so I'd rather force him to use his Brainstorm now. I Duress him. He indeed Brainstorms in response and then shows me
Meddling Mage, Meddling Mage, Scrubland, Lilana of the Veil, Lilana of the Veil
Yuck. I'm forced to take Liliana. At least I know his hand for the next two turns.
He draws and plays the Scrubland and the Meddling Mage. I now realize I should have cast Lion's Eye Diamond. It doesn't matter as he names Dark Ritual.
Aside: The "default" card to name with Meddling Mage is Infernal Tutor as most winning lines require at least one Infernal Tutor. A slightly more greedy name is Lion's Eye Diamond. The goal of naming LED is to shut off not only LED itself but also Infernal Tutor by making it much harder to get hellbent, especially if the Storm player has an LED stranded in their hand. While Dark Ritual is certainly powerful, it is usually a poor name in the blind.
Of course, naming Dark Ritual turns out to be great here.
As I'm wishing he'd named Infernal Tutor, I draw one for my turn. I make up for my mistake last turn and play LED. I now have an LED and an Underground Sea in play and
Ad Nauseum, Dark Ritual, Infernal Tutor, Cabal Ritual, Abrupt Decay, Lim-Dul's Vault
in hand.
Ralph draws and I know his hand is now
Liliana, Meddling Mage, Stoneforge Mystic, Counterspell
He attacks with Meddling Mage and plays the second, naming Infernal Tutor. I suppose I should be careful what I wish for.
I draw Defense Grid. It seems unlikely this card will be good this game. I pass.
Meddling Mages attack me to twelve and a Flooded Strand finds a Tropical Island as Ralph summons Liliana. He +1's her, discarding Stoneforge Mystic as I discard Ad Nauseum. He's down to just a Counterspell.
I desperately need a land, but draw Xantid Swarm instead.
Ralph draws and ticks up Liliana again, discarding Deathrite Shaman as I discard Defense Grid. I get attacked to eight.
I draw a Polluted Delta and play it. Finally. Unfortunately, I can't do anything while the Mage naming Infernal Tutor is on the board, so I pass.
Ralph draws and attacks. I fetch Tropical Island and Decay the Mage naming Infernal Tutor. After combat I am at five. Liliana goes to six and I discard Dark Ritual. Ralph discards Counterspell. That can't be good.
I draw Gitaxian Probe but Ralph has Vendilion Clique during my draw step. He takes my Infernal Tutor and replaces it with a Polluted Delta. Rude.
Ralph declares me dead. I have other plans.
I play the Delta and fetch, going to four. Because of Ralph's Vendilion Clique, Cabal Ritual is the second spell of the turn (S2, BBBBB). I go to two to cast Gitaxian Probe (S3, BBBBB), hold priority and tap my last land to play Lim-Dul's Vault (S4, BBBB) and crack LED for red (S4, BBBBRRR). Lim-Dul's Vault resolves:
Ponder, Brainstorm, Volcanic Island, Lotus Petal, Abrupt Decay
No good. Go to one.
Infernal Tutor, Cabal Therapy, Xantid Swarm, Lotus Petal, LED[I]
No Past in Flames makes me a sad boy. Infernal Tutor is almost good enough, but Meddling Mage on Dark Ritual means Tutoring for Past in Flames gets me nowhere. All I can do is draw Infernal Tutor and cast it (S5, BBBRR) for Tendrils, putting Ralph to six and me to thirteen.
Ralph attacks me to eight and destroys an Underground Sea by ultimating Liliana.
I draw a Brainstorm. Technically not dead yet.
Ralph plays an Underground Sea and attacks me to three.
I draw a Gitaxian Probe. I go to one to cast it, and Ralph has Notion Thief. I respond with Brainstorm, but I know no one card can save me, and I scoop after looking at the top three.
Sideboarding:
+2 Abrupt Decay, +1 Defense Grid
-1 Ponder, -1 Grim Tutor, -1 Cabal Ritual
Xantid Swarm is pretty awful if he has Liliana. I still have no idea if Massacre or Ad Nauseum is better. I decide the mantra of the day is "better lucky than good" and keep Ad Nauseum.
I am on the play for the final game. Both Ralph and I mulligan to six. I keep:
[I]Delta, Volcanic Island, Cabal Ritual, Ponder, Lotus Petal, Infernal Tutor
I start on Volcanic Island into Ponder and see Brainstorm, Duress, Scalding Tarn. I draw the Tarn and leave Brainstorm on top of Duress.
Ralph plays an Underground Sea and a Deathrite Shaman.
I draw Brainstorm which yeilds Duress, Cabal Ritual and Abrupt Decay. The Decay and Petal are returned and Delta shuffles them away. I find a Swamp and Duress Ralph, seeing
Tundra, Stoneforge Mystic, Sword of Fire and Ice, Batterskull, Mana Leak
Well, that's a Mana Leak alright. I take it.
Ralph draws, plays Tundra and Stoneforge Mystic, checks his sideboard to confirm he has no more equipment and shuffles. At this point, there are four cards in my graveyard. I have a fetchland in hand, so a Petal or a Dark Ritual let me go off next turn as long as Deathrite Shaman can't remove the land in my graveyard. After passing Ralph's deck back to him, I pick up my pen. Ralph complies and attacks me for one.
I draw Lotus Petal. Scalding Tarn, fetch for Island (Graveyard: 5). Lotus Petal, sacrifice for black (G:6, S1, B), tap Island for Cabal Ritual (G:7, S2, BBB), Cabal Ritual (S3, BBBBBB), Infernal Tutor (S4, BBBB), tap Volcanic for Past in Flames (S5, B), tap Swamp to flashback Cabal Ritual (S6, BBBBB), flashback Cabal Ritual (S7, 8B), Infernal Tutor (S8, BBBBB) for Infernal Tutor (S9, BBBB) for Tendrils.
And that's a tournament! For my efforts, I received an Unlimited Underground Sea and a Revised Tundra. Not bad for $25!
It turns out Ralph doesn't even play Force of Will, instead opting for the aforementioned Counterspell and Mana Leaks. I guess I'm glad playing around it in game one didn't cost me.
Props:
- My opponents for being great guys. And also for not playing Force of Will.
- Grim Tutor. You were worth every penny in that semifinal match.
- Dice. I got to be on the play for every single game 1.
- Ed Sloman. Seriously, free pizza!?
Slops:
- My note taking skills. This was my first effort, and I learned a lot about what I need to write down.
- My decklist-filling-out skills. Seriously embarassing.
- Crippling social anxiety preventing me from just introducing myself to John. Why is making friends hard?
Thanks for reading!