sawatarix
08-09-2014, 05:39 AM
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/fertig_zps77834222.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/fertig_zps77834222.jpg.html)
Last week I saw the big letter 'U' on the shift schedule at work, which stands for the German word 'Urlaub=Vacation'.
I have totally forgotten about it and didn't have a plan at all for the 7 days, so I have decided to call all my buddies in Germany, and to make a little road trip. Luckily, there were also 2 legacy tournaments during the week in Nürnberg and Mainz, perfect.
That's the route I have taken:
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/roadtrip_zps272ea204.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/roadtrip_zps272ea204.jpg.html)
I can write million words about the trip and how awesome it was and blablabla but you are here to read the tournament reports, right?
Well, here we go.
After we have been clubbin’ the night before, Johannes and I attended the monthly legacy tournament on Saturday.
He is a very confident Miracles-pilot as he made top 8 at BoM 9 with the deck.
For me, it was time to load the gun:
The Machine Gun by Kai Thiele
Spells:45
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Dark Ritual
3 Duress
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
2 Preordain
1 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Infernal Tutor
1 Past in Flames
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Ad Nauseam
Lands:15
1 Badlands
1 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Swamp
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Volcanic Island
Sideboard:15
3 Chain of Vapor
2 Dread of Night
3 Xantid Swarm
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Young Pyromancer
Round 1: Elves
I get paired against a young player who starts with Birchlore Rangers - that's a deck I love to face.
After 3 more elves enter the play, he gets a natural tendrils attack.
G2 I keep a slow hand with a lot of cantrips but no action → should be a mulligan in this matchup although I like cantrip heavy hands.
On turn 3, my opponent plays a new card from M15: Stain the Mind targeting Tendrils of Agony.
G3 He doesn't get a third turn.
1-0-0
Round 2: RUG Delver
He seems to know what I’m playing as my Gitaxian Probe reveals 2 Force of Will, Spell Pierce and Spell Snare among Lands and a Delver of Secrets.
He plays Delver and I miss my land drops because all my cantrips fail to find them.
On my last turn, I try to combo off but he counters my rituals aggressively, game.
In G2 and G3 I do what my deck does best: Grinding until I have a ton of mana and protection to fight both soft counters and hard counters. The key to victory is to fetch basics while playing around stifle as good as you can. If you get 2-4 lands onto the battlefield (or even a carpet of flowers which is insane in this particular matchup) the job is almost done.
Don’t give up if your opponent has, for example, 2 Force of Will, 2 Spell Pierce and 1 Spell Snare in Hand.
If you sequence your spells in the right order, your Cabal Rituals become additional Duress.
2-0-0
Round 3: Elves
Guess who won.
Hint: That's my opponents face.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/10589655_777848618926105_236010892_n_zps283e6817.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/10589655_777848618926105_236010892_n_zps283e6817.jpg.html)
3-0-0
Round 4: LED-Dredge
I win the dice-roll and start with Gitaxian Probe which reveals:
Lion’s Eye Diamond
Gemstone Mine
Faithless Looting
Narcomoeba
3 Dredgers
I have the option to cantrip for a save turn 2 kill or to duress the diamond away.
What would you do? Yes, you are right – Duress > Lion’s Eye Diamond.
My opponent cast Looting and passes. I cantrip twice, lay down my own Lion’s Eye Diamond and float the tutor on top of my library.
His therapy hits nothing but makes a bunch of zombies – I’m not impressed.
Next turn I cast Ad Nauseam.
G2 Turn 1 Kill via Ad Nauseam where he doesn’t have Mindbreak Trap.
This Matchup is all about speed, sometimes the Dredge player goes nuts with LED+Looting+Dredger on turn 1, sometimes you have the turn 1-2 Kill.
Don’t keep hands with 3-4 Cantrips, it’s simply too slow to combat fast Dredge decks.
Discard spells on the play are always welcomed, as they can strip away either LED or Draw-spells.
4-0-0
Round 5, FINALS: Manaless Dredge
Not much to say here; he is always dead even if you have a slow start.
I mean, he lets you start right?
Be aware - Mindbreak Traps could be a problem, thus make sure you don’t walk into it.
5-0-0
After the tournament we went to a nice American Burger Restaurant (Yes in Bavaria, the beef tastes really awesome there) and celebrated our friend Maximilian’s birthday party where the beer was legendary, Cheers!
Later we went to Johannes’ house and started a CUBE session with 10 players – I built a nice Sneak Attack Reanimator deck with a lot of unfair fatties just like the Titans, Sundering Titan and Inkwell Leviathan and friends. Yeah, even in other formats I go a little bit unfair and crazy.
***
The next day I went to Mainz with Johannes to the next Legacy tournament by car, and it took us around 3 hours to get there.
He was a bit disappointed with his Miracles deck the day before, hence he borrowed Maximilian’s FOIL Team America Deck with Jace and Liliana in the main deck, which looks pretty sweet.
As we arrived, we got a warm welcome from the guys there and started the tournament pretty soon:
6 Rounds of Swiss, which sounds exciting.
I brought the same main deck, but the sideboard changed a little bit.
I cut all Pyromancers for Carpet of Flowers and a Telemin Performace to combat Delver decks and Combo decks in general. But I can also understand people who argue for Bribery because it is a horrible feeling when you get a useless, random Dark Confidant, Vendillion Clique or even a Xantid Swarm.
Round 1: RGB Nic Fit
I sit down against an unknown player who knows what I’m playing as he lays down a basic Swamp into Cabal Therapy -> Infernal Tutor and hits.
Damn it, is it the mirror game?
My Gitaxian Probe shows me Eternal Witness, Veteran Explorer and other big dudes, and after he misses his land drops he dies pretty quickly.
In G2 he has no pressure but enough discard to get into the long game and finally casts 2 Slaughter Games on Infernal Tutor and Tendrils of Agony.
G3 is a pretty unfair game as he doesn’t get a turn.
1-0-0
Round 2: Esper Blade
My opponent starts with Plains, go.
I draw for my turn and have the option to cantrip into a save kill or to go off immediately via Ad Nauseam. The basic plains without any action tells me that I’m most likely up against death and taxes, hence going off turn 1 seems to be a solid choice.
Imagine my face when he pitches True-Name Nemesis to Force of Will as I cast Infernal Tutor:
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/2503584-cute_meme_zps2f54e539.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/2503584-cute_meme_zps2f54e539.jpg.html)
G2 and G3 I play through his soft counters and Duress all his hard-counters including Venser. After he cast a meddling mage naming Burning Wish, I tell him that this card is just poor in storm and kill him via past in flames.
The matchup is pretty easy as my opponent doesn’t have a fast clock, really enjoyable.
2-0-0
Round 3: Ant Mirror
Again, my opponent knows what he is up against and I’m not, jeez.
I get a hand with Swamp, Sensei’s Divining Top , 3 LED, Gitaxian Probe and Ponder.
I probe and see:
2 LED
Infernal Tutor
Duress
Lotus Petal
2 Brainstorm
WOW, if he draws a land, Petal or Dark Ritual, I’m going to die on the spot.
So I lay down swamp and Sensei’s Top as well as 3 LED.
Crack one of the Diamonds for BBB and look at my top 3 cards: Cabal Therapy, a land, Ponder.
Tap Sensei’s Top, draw Therapy and cast it on my opponent naming LED obviously – he makes a such a face: [Bild]
We both durdle around with cantrips and multiple Duress until I have Infernal Tutor thanks to Sensei’s Top.
G2 is a real disruptive game where we are both almost hellbent on turn 4. Then my opponent draws a Cabal Ritual to cast his Ad Nauseam; fair enough.
In G3 I lay down my LED and start cantripping, floating a Tutor on top.
“Do you have any dudes in your deck?”
“Well, find out yourself!”
“Ok, all pokerchips for Telemin Performace on you”
“Damn you got me”
“Like a boss”
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/10585689_777839095593724_2114931405_n_zps9ca023e0.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/10585689_777839095593724_2114931405_n_zps9ca023e0.jpg.html)
3-0-0
Round 4: Death&Taxes
Well, that’s a matchup where we have to keep really fast hands on G1. Otherwise it’s a real nightmare, similar to MUD Decks.
Cantrip aggressively, that’s pretty important.
G2 and G3 we can keep either a superfast hand or a hand with 1-2 dread of nights as they shut down our opponents’ entire deck. Overall, this matchup is ok.
4-0-0
Round 5: Sneakshow
I put him under duress and therapy his 2 spell pierces, and go off very quickly before he can put a fatty into play.
He starts G2 with City of Traitors, Lotus Petal, Show and Tell into Griselbrand, NUTS !
I look at the monster, and then at my opponent who makes such a face:
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/10596170_777839085593725_1971946163_n_zps832e69a0.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/10596170_777839085593725_1971946163_n_zps832e69a0.jpg.html)
Okay; loosing against such a hand isn’t embarrassing.
G3 is a funny one: We both sculpt our combohands, then I am able to let him discard all his countermagic and have the option to play infernal tutor to grab either ad nauseam (19 Life) or Telemin Performance.
What would you do?
Note that my opponent has Griselbrand + Through the Breach in hand and 5 mana available for his next turn.
That’s a difficult choice to make but I finally go for Ad Nauseam and win with Tendrils for over 30.
Telemin Performance would have been great for sure but winning on the spot is more appealing to me.
5-0-0
Round 6 FINALS: Zombardement
I play the finals against my friend Sebastian who invited me to his house in Wiesloch some days ago. He was one of my closest friends when he lived in Berlin and it is just great to play the final round of the tournament against him.
Let’s get started ,G1 I cast Ad Nauseam Turn 2.
Then it gets dirty: My friend Sebastian boards in a ton of cards as we tested the Zombardement-Storm matchup, and I told him a few days before that increasing the hate is the key for beating the deck -
he did.
So my hand gets dismembered by a ton of discard spells during the first turns followed by Thalia and
Deathrite Shaman. He even had Dark Blasts in the deck for Young Pyromancer (which I didn’t have in my 75 today).
His Deck had it all: Discard,Permanents like Thorn/Thalia and a fast clock in Bloodghasts/Gravecrawler. A few of you would probably say: „What? Just smash his face; what's the problem?“ or something like that. Go test the matchup and come back to me, I'm interested in your opinion afterwards. The matchup is not a disaster but far from good, that's for sure.
Nonetheless, it was a pleasure for me.
5-1-0
Combined record over the weekend:
10-1-0
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/fertig_zps24fc09e4.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/fertig_zps24fc09e4.jpg.html)
What a week, I would say the best mix of car trip, celebrating and Legacy.
Couldn't be better, thank you all!
PS: Don't forget your gun
Your Kai Thiele
Last week I saw the big letter 'U' on the shift schedule at work, which stands for the German word 'Urlaub=Vacation'.
I have totally forgotten about it and didn't have a plan at all for the 7 days, so I have decided to call all my buddies in Germany, and to make a little road trip. Luckily, there were also 2 legacy tournaments during the week in Nürnberg and Mainz, perfect.
That's the route I have taken:
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/roadtrip_zps272ea204.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/roadtrip_zps272ea204.jpg.html)
I can write million words about the trip and how awesome it was and blablabla but you are here to read the tournament reports, right?
Well, here we go.
After we have been clubbin’ the night before, Johannes and I attended the monthly legacy tournament on Saturday.
He is a very confident Miracles-pilot as he made top 8 at BoM 9 with the deck.
For me, it was time to load the gun:
The Machine Gun by Kai Thiele
Spells:45
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Dark Ritual
3 Duress
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
2 Preordain
1 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Infernal Tutor
1 Past in Flames
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Ad Nauseam
Lands:15
1 Badlands
1 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Swamp
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Volcanic Island
Sideboard:15
3 Chain of Vapor
2 Dread of Night
3 Xantid Swarm
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Young Pyromancer
Round 1: Elves
I get paired against a young player who starts with Birchlore Rangers - that's a deck I love to face.
After 3 more elves enter the play, he gets a natural tendrils attack.
G2 I keep a slow hand with a lot of cantrips but no action → should be a mulligan in this matchup although I like cantrip heavy hands.
On turn 3, my opponent plays a new card from M15: Stain the Mind targeting Tendrils of Agony.
G3 He doesn't get a third turn.
1-0-0
Round 2: RUG Delver
He seems to know what I’m playing as my Gitaxian Probe reveals 2 Force of Will, Spell Pierce and Spell Snare among Lands and a Delver of Secrets.
He plays Delver and I miss my land drops because all my cantrips fail to find them.
On my last turn, I try to combo off but he counters my rituals aggressively, game.
In G2 and G3 I do what my deck does best: Grinding until I have a ton of mana and protection to fight both soft counters and hard counters. The key to victory is to fetch basics while playing around stifle as good as you can. If you get 2-4 lands onto the battlefield (or even a carpet of flowers which is insane in this particular matchup) the job is almost done.
Don’t give up if your opponent has, for example, 2 Force of Will, 2 Spell Pierce and 1 Spell Snare in Hand.
If you sequence your spells in the right order, your Cabal Rituals become additional Duress.
2-0-0
Round 3: Elves
Guess who won.
Hint: That's my opponents face.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/10589655_777848618926105_236010892_n_zps283e6817.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/10589655_777848618926105_236010892_n_zps283e6817.jpg.html)
3-0-0
Round 4: LED-Dredge
I win the dice-roll and start with Gitaxian Probe which reveals:
Lion’s Eye Diamond
Gemstone Mine
Faithless Looting
Narcomoeba
3 Dredgers
I have the option to cantrip for a save turn 2 kill or to duress the diamond away.
What would you do? Yes, you are right – Duress > Lion’s Eye Diamond.
My opponent cast Looting and passes. I cantrip twice, lay down my own Lion’s Eye Diamond and float the tutor on top of my library.
His therapy hits nothing but makes a bunch of zombies – I’m not impressed.
Next turn I cast Ad Nauseam.
G2 Turn 1 Kill via Ad Nauseam where he doesn’t have Mindbreak Trap.
This Matchup is all about speed, sometimes the Dredge player goes nuts with LED+Looting+Dredger on turn 1, sometimes you have the turn 1-2 Kill.
Don’t keep hands with 3-4 Cantrips, it’s simply too slow to combat fast Dredge decks.
Discard spells on the play are always welcomed, as they can strip away either LED or Draw-spells.
4-0-0
Round 5, FINALS: Manaless Dredge
Not much to say here; he is always dead even if you have a slow start.
I mean, he lets you start right?
Be aware - Mindbreak Traps could be a problem, thus make sure you don’t walk into it.
5-0-0
After the tournament we went to a nice American Burger Restaurant (Yes in Bavaria, the beef tastes really awesome there) and celebrated our friend Maximilian’s birthday party where the beer was legendary, Cheers!
Later we went to Johannes’ house and started a CUBE session with 10 players – I built a nice Sneak Attack Reanimator deck with a lot of unfair fatties just like the Titans, Sundering Titan and Inkwell Leviathan and friends. Yeah, even in other formats I go a little bit unfair and crazy.
***
The next day I went to Mainz with Johannes to the next Legacy tournament by car, and it took us around 3 hours to get there.
He was a bit disappointed with his Miracles deck the day before, hence he borrowed Maximilian’s FOIL Team America Deck with Jace and Liliana in the main deck, which looks pretty sweet.
As we arrived, we got a warm welcome from the guys there and started the tournament pretty soon:
6 Rounds of Swiss, which sounds exciting.
I brought the same main deck, but the sideboard changed a little bit.
I cut all Pyromancers for Carpet of Flowers and a Telemin Performace to combat Delver decks and Combo decks in general. But I can also understand people who argue for Bribery because it is a horrible feeling when you get a useless, random Dark Confidant, Vendillion Clique or even a Xantid Swarm.
Round 1: RGB Nic Fit
I sit down against an unknown player who knows what I’m playing as he lays down a basic Swamp into Cabal Therapy -> Infernal Tutor and hits.
Damn it, is it the mirror game?
My Gitaxian Probe shows me Eternal Witness, Veteran Explorer and other big dudes, and after he misses his land drops he dies pretty quickly.
In G2 he has no pressure but enough discard to get into the long game and finally casts 2 Slaughter Games on Infernal Tutor and Tendrils of Agony.
G3 is a pretty unfair game as he doesn’t get a turn.
1-0-0
Round 2: Esper Blade
My opponent starts with Plains, go.
I draw for my turn and have the option to cantrip into a save kill or to go off immediately via Ad Nauseam. The basic plains without any action tells me that I’m most likely up against death and taxes, hence going off turn 1 seems to be a solid choice.
Imagine my face when he pitches True-Name Nemesis to Force of Will as I cast Infernal Tutor:
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/2503584-cute_meme_zps2f54e539.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/2503584-cute_meme_zps2f54e539.jpg.html)
G2 and G3 I play through his soft counters and Duress all his hard-counters including Venser. After he cast a meddling mage naming Burning Wish, I tell him that this card is just poor in storm and kill him via past in flames.
The matchup is pretty easy as my opponent doesn’t have a fast clock, really enjoyable.
2-0-0
Round 3: Ant Mirror
Again, my opponent knows what he is up against and I’m not, jeez.
I get a hand with Swamp, Sensei’s Divining Top , 3 LED, Gitaxian Probe and Ponder.
I probe and see:
2 LED
Infernal Tutor
Duress
Lotus Petal
2 Brainstorm
WOW, if he draws a land, Petal or Dark Ritual, I’m going to die on the spot.
So I lay down swamp and Sensei’s Top as well as 3 LED.
Crack one of the Diamonds for BBB and look at my top 3 cards: Cabal Therapy, a land, Ponder.
Tap Sensei’s Top, draw Therapy and cast it on my opponent naming LED obviously – he makes a such a face: [Bild]
We both durdle around with cantrips and multiple Duress until I have Infernal Tutor thanks to Sensei’s Top.
G2 is a real disruptive game where we are both almost hellbent on turn 4. Then my opponent draws a Cabal Ritual to cast his Ad Nauseam; fair enough.
In G3 I lay down my LED and start cantripping, floating a Tutor on top.
“Do you have any dudes in your deck?”
“Well, find out yourself!”
“Ok, all pokerchips for Telemin Performace on you”
“Damn you got me”
“Like a boss”
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/10585689_777839095593724_2114931405_n_zps9ca023e0.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/10585689_777839095593724_2114931405_n_zps9ca023e0.jpg.html)
3-0-0
Round 4: Death&Taxes
Well, that’s a matchup where we have to keep really fast hands on G1. Otherwise it’s a real nightmare, similar to MUD Decks.
Cantrip aggressively, that’s pretty important.
G2 and G3 we can keep either a superfast hand or a hand with 1-2 dread of nights as they shut down our opponents’ entire deck. Overall, this matchup is ok.
4-0-0
Round 5: Sneakshow
I put him under duress and therapy his 2 spell pierces, and go off very quickly before he can put a fatty into play.
He starts G2 with City of Traitors, Lotus Petal, Show and Tell into Griselbrand, NUTS !
I look at the monster, and then at my opponent who makes such a face:
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/10596170_777839085593725_1971946163_n_zps832e69a0.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/10596170_777839085593725_1971946163_n_zps832e69a0.jpg.html)
Okay; loosing against such a hand isn’t embarrassing.
G3 is a funny one: We both sculpt our combohands, then I am able to let him discard all his countermagic and have the option to play infernal tutor to grab either ad nauseam (19 Life) or Telemin Performance.
What would you do?
Note that my opponent has Griselbrand + Through the Breach in hand and 5 mana available for his next turn.
That’s a difficult choice to make but I finally go for Ad Nauseam and win with Tendrils for over 30.
Telemin Performance would have been great for sure but winning on the spot is more appealing to me.
5-0-0
Round 6 FINALS: Zombardement
I play the finals against my friend Sebastian who invited me to his house in Wiesloch some days ago. He was one of my closest friends when he lived in Berlin and it is just great to play the final round of the tournament against him.
Let’s get started ,G1 I cast Ad Nauseam Turn 2.
Then it gets dirty: My friend Sebastian boards in a ton of cards as we tested the Zombardement-Storm matchup, and I told him a few days before that increasing the hate is the key for beating the deck -
he did.
So my hand gets dismembered by a ton of discard spells during the first turns followed by Thalia and
Deathrite Shaman. He even had Dark Blasts in the deck for Young Pyromancer (which I didn’t have in my 75 today).
His Deck had it all: Discard,Permanents like Thorn/Thalia and a fast clock in Bloodghasts/Gravecrawler. A few of you would probably say: „What? Just smash his face; what's the problem?“ or something like that. Go test the matchup and come back to me, I'm interested in your opinion afterwards. The matchup is not a disaster but far from good, that's for sure.
Nonetheless, it was a pleasure for me.
5-1-0
Combined record over the weekend:
10-1-0
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah262/Kai_Rugstar/fertig_zps24fc09e4.jpg (http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/Kai_Rugstar/media/fertig_zps24fc09e4.jpg.html)
What a week, I would say the best mix of car trip, celebrating and Legacy.
Couldn't be better, thank you all!
PS: Don't forget your gun
Your Kai Thiele