PDA

View Full Version : Prague Eternal: Tendrils for the Win. Two times Top8 report.



CabalTherapy
07-07-2014, 02:46 PM
Prague Eternal: Tendrils for the Win. Two times Top8 report.


http://i62.tinypic.com/o03p6r.jpg


Preface
I returned from Prague today and I have to say, it was a blast. The tournaments were well organized, the hall was suitable and the people were very friendly. But first of all, let us start with the road trip from Berlin to Prague. Our group contained our driver Big D who was playing Miracles and Reanimator, our Italian friend Matteo on Dredge, SCG’s Carsten Kötter with guess what, Storm, our dear sawatarix Kai with Storm and me with, yeah, Storm too. It took us about four hours to get to Prague, which is a nice distance, not too far away from home but far enough to think of it as a holiday weekend abroad. We had a great time talking about random things and discussing our sideboard strategies, and decks in general. We arrived at lunchtime, went to our hostel and soon afterwards to the tournament location, which is actually a pretty big canteen of Prague’s university. Let’s dive into the first tournament I played.

Friday Legacy Trial (around 80 players)
It was already half past four as the seatings were announced. A bit too late for my taste and as the judge said that we will be playing eight rounds; I was worried if I am going to retain a high level of concentration throughout the tournament. Well, I played this monster:

4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
2 Preordain
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Duress
4 Infernal Tutor
1 Grim Tutor
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Past in Flames
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Swamp
1 Island
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest

4 Young Pyromancer
3 Chain of Vapor
3 Dread of Night
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Xantid Swarm

I have to state that I am not able to recall everything since I did not expected to reach the Top8 of both Legacy tournaments and also did track my games at all. I just wanted to perform as best as I could. Thus, I will cut some rounds short and write about the things I can actually remember. The order of the games may also vary but I am sure that events happened this way. Unfortunately, I also don’t remember the boarding action for the respective rounds.

Round 1 – Painter
He was a friendly guy and we chatted a bit before and while playing. I manage to kill him via Past in Flames both times after some cantrip action and some random Painter attacks.
2:0
1-0

Round 2 – Dark Maverick
At first, I didn’t realize what he was playing because he went for Bayou into Deathrite Shaman first. I thought about some kind of Jund, fair creature deck and led with Probe. The first game was very easy because he had no interactions with me and during the second game I managed to miscount both, storm and mana, and had to pass the turn after an Ad Nauseam. Eventually, my deck performed better and in the end he was dead.
2:0
2-0

Round 3 – Burn
As I saw this young guy sitting on table 5, I immediately thought about Burn, UR Delver or something like that and my assumption was conformed as he slammed Goblin Guide via Mountain and attacked me several times before seeing a lethal Tendrils. In game two, he has Eidolon in hand but I am able to discard it. Nonetheless, he has nice draws and a fast clock on board and we had to move to the third match. Nothing special to say. I cast the classic Past in Flames loop on turn 3 after discarding a Relic of Progenitus and Eidolon.
2:1
3-0

Round 4 – 4c Control
This guy had the full grip against combo. He was prepared and also a storm player from Germany who knows how to play against ANT. I tried but he gained huge card advantage with Snappcaster, Jace, Clique and the usual suspects. After boarding he had some additional material like Flusterstorm and won against me.
0:2
3-1

Round 5 – Jund
This friendly guy was from Norway and as I was sitting down our good old sawatarix said “easy matchup”. Who knew he was right and maybe it is getting boring now because I just killed him two times via Ad Nauseam and Past in Flames.
2:0
4-1

Round 6 – OmniTell
A pretty solid MU for ANT where discards shines and Past if Flames rules. Game one was not a close one. While I had everything, his hand was empty after my Duress-spree. In game two he got a little lucky ripping Show and Tell from Top. And in the deciding match he went down to three desperately searching for a Leyline while I kept my solid seven and killed him on turn four or five after discarding his whole hand.
2:1
5-1

Round 7 – Death and Taxes
My opponent could have played Revoker on turn two but instead went for Vial. And Vial definitely loses against Tendrils of Agony. Unfortunately, he got the nuts in both following games while I was left with my single Dread of Night against his Batterskull and Crusaders. At this point, I lost my trust in Dread of Night and decided to win the next round in order to rank in the Top16 or Top8.
1:2
5-2

Round 8 – Sneak Show
Good god, I wasted the first game keeping a solid hand but with just a single mana source, Swamp. After he placed his second Mountain onto the battlefield, I was expecting something weird but I guess it was just a budget issue or whatever. His Griselbrand into Emrakul via Sneak Attack was not that weird at all at this point of the game. However, I felt very exhausted since it was already past midnight, I managed to win both following matches but without playing very tight and leaving my opponent spaces for interaction.
2:1
6-2

In the end, I ranked at 4th place with the best opp. score and got Tarmogoyf and a Sword of Light and Shadow. It was also nice to have Carsten in the Top8 as well and Matteo and Big D in the Top16. Unfortunately, Kai wanted to drop out of the event with 3-3.



Saturday Legacy Main Event (around 140/150 players)
After my good performance on Friday, I felt very comfortable with my situation and didn’t feel pressure at all. I simply wanted to play as best as I could and rank myself as high as possible without thinking of prices or stuff like that. I changed my sideboard a bit and played this beast:

4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
2 Preordain
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Duress
4 Infernal Tutor
1 Grim Tutor
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Past in Flames
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Swamp
1 Island
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest

4 Young Pyromancer
3 Chain of Vapor
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Flusterstorm
1 Massacre
2 Xantid Swarm

Dread of Night only went in against Death and Taxes where it didn’t perform well. So, sawatarix and I changed the board in order to fight other combo decks, although he was playing three Swarms (not sure) instead of the one-off Massacre which is really sweet with Grim Tutor in the deck. Regarding the details of the previous report, the same goes for this one. I am pretty sure that the order of the rounds is correct and I try to highlight the most important plays of the tournament.

Round 1 – Shardless BUG
First round, table one, feature table. It starts very good because I can sit in the comfort zone on table one which was one of four feature tables of the tournament. The Shardless guy won the first match with Shamans and a random Agent into Ancestral Visions into more value and beatdown. Nonetheless, I came back to fight through some discard in game two and three and won via Past if Flames after bouncing Deathrites.
2:1
1-0

Round 2 – UR Delver
This guy was playing the aggro version of this deck with Goblin Guides and without Stifle/Wasteland. I can remember that the first match was very close because I was playing with a slowish hand and he was attacking with Guide and bolting me a bit. Unfortunately for him, Tendrils of Agony drained him faster. I lost the second game after resolving a Ad Nauseam in response to the Delver trigger, going down to 7 life, and him searching for double bolt. The deciding game was dominated by a quick but painful Past in Flames loop.
2:1
2-0

Round 3 – UB Show and Tell
Well, this was weird. After playing the previous round at table 33, I was allowed to return the the feature match area sitting on table four, facing a weird UB OmniShow-Gifts Ungiven-brew with Griselbrand and Emrakul. The first game was a disaster because I killed him easily via Past in Flames, while the second game was more intense. He managed to resolve Show and Tell on 17 life, I had to cast Ritual into Ad Nauseam now while going down to 8 or something like that, and the seeing Griselbrand entering play. He drew 7 cards and passed the turn. I took some time to figure out the win and led with Duress, some Rituals, LED and Infernal Tutor with Past in Flames already in hand. He drew 7 cards, went down to 3, didn’t find two Forces and I simply searched for Tendrils of Agony into GG.
2:0
3-0

Round 4 – Merfolk
The merfolk player was a solid Austrian player but stood no chance against the storm engine, since his dudes, consisting of TNN and some random lords, couldn’t stop me from casting Past in Flames with x Rituals and Infernal. In the second game I actually did the same and he nothing. Sitting on table one feels very good.
2:0
4-0

Round 5 – Merfolk
I guess this was the guy who also Top8’ed this event. Eventually, he was very good at piloting this deck which gave me some moments of struggling. After a quick first match, his board position in the second one was Cursecatcher, Cursecatcher, Relic, Chalice 0, Clique and I had of course only lands in play. I tried to go off via Chain of Vapor at Chalice but then decided to wait one turn and go from there. However, I missed a Dark Ritual line that would have won me the game earlier. Nonetheless, he was a nice guy wanting to see the football match which he obviously missed. Table one is my best friend now.
2:0
5-0

Round 6 – UWr Miracles
This round was maybe the hardest because not only because of Miracles being a strong deck against ANT, but also because my opponent definitely knew what to do against my deck. He had Top in the first game very early and was constantly floating a Force of Will on top of his deck. It felt like turn 3000 as I finally decided to go off through his Snapcaster Mages in hand. But surprise, Force was on top of his deck and he eventually managed to win this match. The second game was a grindy battle where he had Counterbalance in hand and I Abrupt Decay. I can remember now but at some point of the game I searched for a discard spell via Grim Tutor, ripped his hand and managed to cast Tendrils of Agony of an Infernal Tutor. After Tendrils resolved the judge announced the end of the round and took our slip with the result. Table one still feels great.
1:1
5-0-1

Round 7 – CounterbalanceTop Helm of Awakening Combo
Still undefeated and at table two I was facing a weird Helm of Awakening Grapeshot deck with CounterbalanceTop lock. In the first game he had already the combo in hand, so I had to try to combo first but his last card was Brainstorm which of course found Force and a pitch card. I had Past in Flames in the grave and drew Cabal Ritual for the turn and he announced me the lucker of the tournament, although his own draw was very good. In the third game he had second turn Counterbalance and as I played Ponder he called for Top on top of his library and guess what he revealed… He had every counter of the world in hand and killed my with Grapeshot again. All in all, he was not a nice guy because his reactions to my spells were very dismissive.
1:2
5-1-1

Round 8 – UWR Delver
I went down to table 5 or 6 to fight against a very slow-playing Russian dude on Patriot. Well, the first game went very good. After casting Ad Nauseam he was dead in a second but in the next game he wasted my lands, while I did not have a fetchland in hand or play and was able to counter all my attempts to go off in time. The real showdown was the third game. All in or out. He smashed me down to 7 life and I knew that his last card in hand was a Brainstorm. He brainstormed in response to my Dark Ritual and found Force and a pitch card, just like my opponent in round 7. I had to pass the turn and his draw was a Meddling Mage announcing Tendrils of Agony. Lucky me I had one Chain of Vapor already in the grave and two lands and one Petal in play. My hand was Petal, LED, LED, Infernal, Infernal. So I played Infernal for another LED, then dropped LED, LED, LED, Petal and searched for Past in Flames with the second Infernal. I cast Past in Flames with five mana open, replayed one Ritual, searched for Cabal Ritual with one Infernal, played it, bounced his Meddling dude with the Chain and searched for lethal Tendrils with the second Tutor. At this point of the round, 20 guys were standing behind me looking at my shaky hands. But the relief was just amazing. After I realized that Kai also went 6-1-1, I looked at the standings and found myself 5th and Kai 8th. GG.
2:1
6-1-1

Top8 Quarterfinals – UR Standstill Delver
My opponent was playing a strange mixture of UR Delver, Standstill, Factories and a lot of counter spells. Sadly, he was aware of the power of storm and certainly knew how to make my life difficult. Wasteland and Stifle were the key to his win there. I took him down pretty easily with Past in Flames in match two and lost to his tight play in match three. After the last turn I was nonetheless pleased with the outcome of this tournament.
1:2

Jesus, I picked up my two Flooded Strands and stayed at the hall to watch Kai win the whole thing. Matteo and I were joking throughout the match in the back, imitating the commentators and the judge who was sitting around not really watching the game. Guys, storm is the best deck of the format. It was just so sick to take down such huge tournaments, although my accomplishments moved to the background in comparison with Kai’s awesome performance. Sad to say, Carsten missed his last round and lost to Miracles (if I am right). Storm is a great deck and especially ANT, the superior, feels like playing Vintage against Modern. I have this feeling each time I am facing Merfolk, Maverick or stuff like that.

http://i60.tinypic.com/7179mt.jpg
I guess, I deserved my favourite energy drink I found in Prague's Spar market: the delicious green Budget Energy. Check it out, guys.

Epilogue
The trip back home was also very entertaining because we hab a lot to talk and laugh about. These boys are cool guys and I am looking foreward to the next Legacy road trip.
Nothing much to add here but I guess you also will read Kai's side of the story. Congratulations to this guy again and keep storming for wins.
I hope you guys enjoyed my brief wrap-up and keep on developing storm and adding sick techs like Young Pyrodude and other bruisers.
GG

Check out sawatarix's 1st place report: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?28282-Eternal-Prague-2014-Victory-Free-Headshots-for-everyone

Bed Decks Palyer
07-07-2014, 03:29 PM
Thanks a lot for very interesting and well-written report. Congrats on your finish!

P-E
07-07-2014, 03:48 PM
thanks a lot for your report
really good to read:cool:

now Kai has to rush for his report ^^

meffeo
07-07-2014, 03:50 PM
Very well written and enjoyable report, dude. Congratz!

It was a honour and a pleasure, looking forward to the next trip, especially waiting for some orher commentator jokes.

Greetz also to Kai, Big D, Carsten and the majestic car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

Togores
07-07-2014, 04:39 PM
Great result but i have some questions:

1st how good was pyromancer this event? U have never mentioned it in the report. You sided it vs someone?

2nd ur manabase is really weird. I dont know why u play so. Havind pyromancers in side and not playing bayou (exept if u only side them vs miracles) and also why not playing 4 delta? U never wanna search for the swamp? Or for bayou with flooded? I just dont get why u would play this manabase just to beat surgical and pithing on your lands...

lordofthepit
07-07-2014, 04:40 PM
Congrats!

Any reason you're only playing 2 Delta?

CabalTherapy
07-07-2014, 04:47 PM
Great result but i have some questions:

1st how good was pyromancer this event? U have never mentioned it in the report. You sided it vs someone?

2nd ur manabase is really weird. I dont know why u play so. Havind pyromancers in side and not playing bayou (exept if u only side them vs miracles) and also why not playing 4 delta? U never wanna search for the swamp? Or for bayou with flooded? I just dont get why u would play this manabase just to beat surgical and pithing on your lands...


Thanks.
1: Pyromancer perfomed not that good but was ok. Yeah, well, I sided it in against Miracles and 4c Control.
2: Indeed it is. I am not trying to next-level something but the main reason was my empty purse and I kind of got used to this mana base, altough I know that 4 Deltas is the best. ^^ Wasn't a problem at all.

Rome
07-07-2014, 04:53 PM
Congrates to the Top 8 and thanks for the nice report.

I hope the prague eternal becomes as famous as the bom or the ovino, because it was a really nice and well organized tournament.
u
I was the Austrian Guy with Meerfolk ;-)

Dragonslayer_90
07-07-2014, 05:04 PM
Congrats on the Top 8 again Cabal Therapy and thanks for the report. One question: Do you remember siding any amount of permanent hate for burn? Many of my friends keep claiming that storm has gone from burn's worst MU to a bye because of the new red eidolon. I'm thinking they are over exaggerating though because I'm still beating burn players a lot. Usually I just therapy eidolon away :) But would you side in some number of removal as another out to Eidolon in the Burn MU?

CabalTherapy
07-07-2014, 05:11 PM
Congrats on the Top 8 again Cabal Therapy and thanks for the report. One question: Do you remember siding any amount of permanent hate for burn? Many of my friends keep claiming that storm has gone from burn's worst MU to a bye because of the new red eidolon. I'm thinking they are over exaggerating though because I'm still beating burn players a lot. Usually I just therapy eidolon away :) But would you side in some number of removal as another out to Eidolon in the Burn MU?

Eidolon is a very strong card but Burn has no library manipulation thus being dependent on the draw. It is still a good MU for storm.
And yes, I boarded 2 Chain of Vapor against Eidolon and Relic of Progenitus. -1 Bayou, -1 Duress

sawatarix
07-07-2014, 06:11 PM
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/10533519_763543533689947_2099303273_n_zps91eb79d9.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/10533519_763543533689947_2099303273_n_zps91eb79d9.jpg.html)

This german boy knows how to storm, beware !

What should i add: GG my Friend

Tendrils of Agony is the best 4 Drop ever printed in the entire format, that's for sure.

(My Tournament Report will be up within 24 hours)

BrettF
07-07-2014, 09:11 PM
Great Job! I wonder if Kai was playing his 2nd Ad Nauseam and single chrome mox? I'll have to wait for his report to find out!

Did you side in flusterstorms at all?

P-E
07-07-2014, 11:45 PM
meffeo> how was your tournament with dredge ?

ac3eb
07-08-2014, 02:03 AM
@CabalTherapy great tournament report! I know this question gets asked frequently, but how did grim tutor perform in your list? It's always a slot for debate. Is it just a necessary evil? Congrats!

CabalTherapy
07-08-2014, 02:19 AM
Congrates to the Top 8 and thanks for the nice report.

I hope the prague eternal becomes as famous as the bom or the ovino, because it was a really nice and well organized tournament.
u
I was the Austrian Guy with Meerfolk ;-)

Thanks. Sorry for not remembering your name. I could looked it up at wizards but decided to just write about the matches.



Great Job! I wonder if Kai was playing his 2nd Ad Nauseam and single chrome mox? I'll have to wait for his report to find out!

Did you side in flusterstorms at all?

Kai will tell. ^^
Regarding the Flusterstorms: no. This is certainly a Berlin-card but at least it felt good to have them in the side.


@CabalTherapy great tournament report! I know this question gets asked frequently, but how did grim tutor perform in your list? It's always a slot for debate. Is it just a necessary evil? Congrats!

Grimy was good in both tournaments. He enabled the combo, searched for disruption and is always a good spell to cast during the turn prior to the combo. On the other hand, I don't think that he is obligatory but a good card to play with.

big_ticket
07-08-2014, 03:48 AM
well said bro,really like your report, hope i can cop 2 U.sea's this year to finish off my ANT

meffeo
07-08-2014, 08:03 AM
meffeo> how was your tournament with dredge ?
Still writing the report. 9th out of 77 players on friday event, btw.

Edit: here's the link http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28284

CabalTherapy
07-09-2014, 06:35 AM
well said bro,really like your report, hope i can cop 2 U.sea's this year to finish off my ANT

Thanks, dude. You won't regret playing ANT.