THE MANA LEAK OPEN 1, Stratford, CT., September 3, 2006

[Artowis]

I'll say again... Reanimator? UGH! What did it do against a format running StP? A deck that runs a free Planar Void main? Counterspells? Ugh. Legacy, you make me shed a tear.

Probably laughing at the fact that STP doesn't touch SSS or even last against Duress/Therapy. As for Counterspells, I'm reasonably sure 8-10 reanimate effects, Discard and ZI are good answers to that. Good control may smash Reanimator, but Thresh doesn't fall under that category. ;o

Besides it didn't win so feel safe!

I'm shocked you aren't already on the 'zomg affinity teh sux0rz!, how did that T8!'.

[rodgon666]

see... i told you guys SD people would bring home some of the mula!

i can see that people have no apreciation for decks that arent supposively tier one.
and quite frankly your ignorance is backed up by nothing. i didnt see any...not ONE solidarity deck in the top 8, and yet you see two reanimator decks ( one black/ blue much like the extended version... and then my version black/ green.) but yet it doesnt seem like you guys take it into concideration as a deck to beat.. even though only 2 reanimator decks showed up... and two made it to the finals....and solidarity is a deck to beat? i mean it even made more entries to the top 8 then goblins!!!

WAKE UP !!!

these decks are actually getting to the point that they are competitive enough to rape Goblins...race Solidarity and have an even match agaisnt grow! you might keep on closing the discussions about the decks and lock threads just because they arent like the ones your friends top 8 with... but as of now my version of the deck has as much respectability as the one orlove did. It took me having to play in a tourney on the other side of the country ( which i was extremely happy to find on my vacations to boston).

people that saw me play the deck can give you input into how it played, and if no one does my standings should be sufficient.

I beat:

1- goblin

2- W/G/U grow ( and lost to one in the top 8. i salute you mister nightmare!)

1- and an easy match against Shuffle Truffle.


( arent those supposively the tier 1 decks according to your forums??? mmm... perhaps a deck that beats all those should be concidered huh?)

oh yeah mister FireAndIce...

i hear choke is great against grow... and i also last time i heard... you need white to cast swords...( which you didnt have! DUE TO THE CHOKE!!! so stop complaining at that point there was absolutely nothing you could do. but since my deck wasnt tier 1 i guess i just got lucky huh?)

[Artowis]

even though only 2 reanimator decks showed up...

This isn't actually accurate, I know at least Ben Kowal was playing a BUR Reanimator deck and he got knocked out after round 6 by Osyp. His first loss was to lucky mc lucksack angel stompy played who managed trip plow, dubs crypt and his only seal of cleansing in the deck.

[rodgon666]

ok. my bad, perhaps three. the point still stands. an dis irrelevant if one or two more showed up.

out of all the reanimator decks out there ( even if there were 3 or 4 or even 5... which i doubt) 50 % at least went to top 8. what percentage of goblins? Grow? Solidarity?

yeah... not even close.

point proven!

[JeremM]

I'm interested in the Faerie Stompy decklist that T8ed, as it supposedly ran 3Spheres in addition to CotV. It might be the card needed for the deck to finally make the jump to Tier 1, or it could just be redundant with the Chalices.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Actually, I was the one that knocked Kowal out of contention 2-0 with Orlove style Zianimator. Rodrigo's build was much, much different, runnin more like a straight up reanimator deck with a few utility elements. I have no idea what it's matchups are like in general, but it felt like a brutal fucking beating playing against it with Truffle Shuffle. Of course, both of the games I lost he managed to have one of his two one-of fatties that wreck me in hand, Sundering Titan and completely effing topdecked SSS for the win g3.


rodgon, just some advice, leave defending your petdeck to someone that can type and form coherent arguments. I'm willing to talk about reanimator's possible viability, but saying it did well once, making all the previous times it's scrubbed out irrelevant is kinda bullshit.

Anyway, yeah, there were two Gro and two Goblin lists in the top 8, I believe, with Nightmare taking second. I couldn't draw last round x-1 due to tiebreakers and too many people, so I had to get my face crushed by the aforementioned reanimator deck. It was the only matchup I should've actually lost all day, though, I threw away my match against Mr. Nightmare.

Hey, wait, he still owes me a pack.

I'm also still dissapointed at the lack of coverage of my match vs. Roland Chang. Like, what, we don't cover the feature match of the century anymore?

[Lukas Preuss]

Where are all the feature match coverages?

I really want to read about this great tournament. :D

[Peter_Rotten]

Pulled off of TML and made easy on the eyes:

The top 8 was at follows:

2 Threshold (both RUG)
2 Reanimator
1 Goblins (Rw)
1 Faiery Stompy (Trinisphere, Juggernaut over Sea Sprite)
1 Affinity
1 RG Beats

MATCHES:

Quarters:

Threshold beats Reanimator (ashok)
Affinity beats Reanimator
Goblins beats Threshold
Faery stompy beats RG Beats

Semis:

Goblins beats Affinity
Threshold beats FaeryStompy

Finals:

Goblins beats Threshold.

Of note was zero combo making top 8. Not much iggy showed, but good players were piloting it, such as osyp. It didn't appear to go deep. Solidarity on the other hand was plentiful. The guy credited with creating it (gerhardt?) top 16'd. Decent amount of madness showed, including Roland, but it did not hold up late in the tournament.

****

I'm back and like to point out some info. Decent amount of madness showed but it did not hold up late in the tournament. I wonder why?

[Bane of the Living]

Maybe now that Solidarity hasnt put anyone into top 8 in the past 2 tournies we can stop whispering about it being the iron giant. Every deck can be beat. Im interested in hearing how things went with proxies. Who used em? Was it fair? Anyone see an excessive amount of shit like Chains of Meph or Moats?

[Peter_Rotten]

Maybe now that Solidarity hasnt put anyone into top 8 in the past 2 tournies we can stop whispering about it being the iron giant. Every deck can be beat.

But please note, that it did T16. I'd be interested in seeing the other 7 decks in T16 also. That information holds some value also.


I'm interested in hearing how things went with proxies. Who used em? Was it fair? Anyone see an excessive amount of shit like Chains of Meph or Moats?

Ditto. I wonder if proxies really changed anything. Looking at the T8, I doubt that there were many proxies except possibly some Duals. Maybe Faery Stompy ran proxies of Sea Drake.

[Kadaj]

Actually, the Faerie Stompy player didn't have a single proxy as far as I know, and I know if he did, they weren't the Sea Drakes. The only proxies I saw all day were duals (once) and a guy who lent a friend 2 Aether Vials and proxied them.

There were so few proxies that Ray pretty much said before the tournament started the Mana Leak Open next year will not allow proxies.

[Peter_Rotten]

Finals:

Goblins beats Threshold.

[The M.E.T.H.O.D]

Hey Everyone!

My name is Ashok and I made t8 at the event with Reanimator. I'll plan on start posting on this site more so hopefully this post can also serve as an introduction. I've been testing the deck alot against at lot of the tier1 and 2 decks with the rest of Meandeck in preperation for this event. I really wanted to play in this because I have a deep interest in legacy but my personal cardpool and location prevent me from playing. I had three byes at GP Philly (won a trial with goblins) and I failed to make day two by a game win. I made t4 at the Legacy side event at GP Toronto with iggy pop.

I've always had a long term infactuation with reanimator decks and I wanted to build the fastest yet stable version of reanimator possible. I'll write a full report later but quickly i'd like to address the naysayers by saying i was fully aware of the hate awaiting me but I thought that it wasn't actually strong enough to stop me from winning, especially when I have speed and tempo on my side. The combination of the transitional suicide black sb/simic sky swallowers/ pithing needles did the job.

I didn't lose 1 game in the swiss and I double drew into t8 where i lost to affinity.

'Shok Style Reanimator
4 Brainstorm
4 Careful Study
4 Buried Alive
4 Animate Dead
4 Reanimate
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
4 Spirit of the Night
2 Duress
1 Sickening Dreams
1 Show and Tell

4 Dark Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Swamp
2 Island

/sb
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Phyrexian Negator
3 Pithing Needle
2 Duress
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Echoing Truth.

I really like my deck and i'll probably play the same list again unless time spiral gives me another akroma like creature variant.

Legacy is great and i appreciate what you guys are doing and hopefully i'll get to know you guys!

EDIT: my only proxy was 2 spirit of the night which I ordered from Starcitygames but they were not going to make it to me on time so I didn't see the need to buy them again =(.

[Anusien]

Ray is sending me lists. T8/T16 should be up as soon as I get them, and full decklists will get up eventually.

[Nightmare]

T8 was:

First - Jeff from Rochester with Goblins/W
Second - Me with UGW Thresh
3/4 - Faerie Stompy & Raffinity
5-8 - 2x Reanimator (one B/G, and one B/U), UGR Thresh, and Feinstein Sligh.

Tournament report in the works. Stay tuned.

[Fortifitakitors]

Out of curiousity, what was the prize support like with 106-110 people?

[Kadaj]

Something ridiculous... I forget, but I think you could get like Timetwister + Library of Alexandria + 75 packs for first, with a bunch of other options.

And the prizes extended all the way down to the top 32.

[Nightmare]

Out of curiousity, what was the prize support like with 106-110 people?

When Jeff and i split, he got an UNL Sapphire and 15 packs, and I got an Imperial Seal and 50 packs. Pretty insane.

[Whit3 Ghost]

Ever wish you were playing 4c at all that day?

[AnwarA101]

Maybe now that Solidarity hasnt put anyone into top 8 in the past 2 tournies we can stop whispering about it being the iron giant. Every deck can be beat. Im interested in hearing how things went with proxies. Who used em? Was it fair? Anyone see an excessive amount of shit like Chains of Meph or Moats?

When I got off the phone with the Nova crew last night, I believe Deep6er was 12th and Ewokslayer was 15th. So that puts 2 into T16. Don't count the deck, if you do you will regret it.

[Nightmare]

Ever wish you were playing 4c at all that day?Nope, i loved my build all day.

Report is up (http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?p=87962#post87962)

[Bane of the Living]

When I got off the phone with the Nova crew last night, I believe Deep6er was 12th and Ewokslayer was 15th. So that puts 2 into T16. Don't count the deck, if you do you will regret it.

So no Top 8's again right? Thats all I said. I was only pointing something out. If 9-16 mattered that much we'd have a thread for it.

[troopatroop]

Sigh... 12th place means that he didn't make it in due to Tiebreakers. I'm pretty sure 15th place is the same thing with that many people.

And honestly, I'm not one to judge tournaments like this as the "be all-end all" source of information. Everyone knows that the smaller the sample size, the more random the data. I would much rather go off testing results than the top4's/8's of big tournaments. Granted, they DO mean something, But just because Ravager top8's more recently than solidarity doesn't mean it's better against the field. Luck is a big part of this game.

[scrumdogg]

So no Top 8's again right? Thats all I said. I was only pointing something out. If 9-16 mattered that much we'd have a thread for it.

Solidarity is still one of the best decks in the format, and it did well all day even if people were very prepared for it (not everybody, but you can't mandate intellligence or preparedness or attendance, right MR. Lives 2 hours away but was too lazy to come?). Given the proxy situation, I know a lot of us expected it to be everywhere (proxy Resets) so there was a lot of hate aimed at it. People won't be able to do that at the next MLO, as it will be unproxied. Top 16 in this case was NOT tiebreakers, with the possible exception of Phil Stoltze in 9th, everybody below that was a loss or tie away from making Top 8. This was an awesome event, Ray should get much love from the community for this - insane prizes well distributed at a fantabulous store/tourney location. Hopefully this becomes a quarterly/semi-annual event asap.

EDIT: Proxies - mostly duals all day & very few people had any that I saw, of the people I played, only my Round 7 opp with Goblins had any & they were Duals, last fetch, & some random SB card. Surprisingly, most people played decks they had cards for or chose not to delve into weird expensive inaccessible cards like Chains, Void, etc

[Angel of Despair]

Just so you know, He wasn't too lazy to go! It was our daughters birthday party, so swallow your foot.

[Jander78]

Hey Everyone!
Welcome to the Source man! Awesome job with an unexpected deck!

Props:
Ray for holding the tournament
Nightmare for 2nd placing
Horny Goat Weed
Gaming Etc. for having an awesome place to play
Subway

Slops:
Being too tired I could barely function (Gearheart can confirm this)
Taking the long way home
Caulyn for not accepting my dare
Kadi for not understanding that in order for the car to stop you need to apply the breaks ahead of time.
My Name is Scott's opponents for cheating

[herbigtoo]

I was playing Salvager Game after quite a long hiatus from tournament play so I can't say that my play skill was top notch. I went 0-2 vs. 5/3, 0-2 versus Solidarity and then spent the rest of the day coming back playing against scrubs (and then Jim, my ride to the event).

My favorite moment was duressing the kid with the hot mom and deciding that Flight was the biggest threat in his hand. Then, both times I comboed I had to explain every step of the way. He almost surprised me with a poorly placed Word of Unsummoning though. If he had hit my Salvager in response to me cracking Diamond I'd have been impressed but unfortunately that didn't happen.

Props to Mr. Nightmare for sleeping in a blanket fort and then taking second.

I've got some brushing up to do and hopefully I'll be back in my game the next time you guys see me.

[jazzykat]

My favorite moment was duressing the kid with the hot mom and deciding that Flight was the biggest threat in his hand.


Hmm...I have heard a lot about this hot mom, was there any way you could have duressed the MILF?

[Kadaj]

I was sitting right next to him pretty much as he made that play... the kids deck had no sleeves, and several championship edition cards in it. I almost felt bad for him, although I sadly never had the chance to see his mom.

[herbigtoo]

I was sitting right next to him pretty much as he made that play... the kids deck had no sleeves, and several championship edition cards in it. I almost felt bad for him, although I sadly never had the chance to see his mom.

I saw the championship cards as soon as he drew his first hand. I figured it was the third round and if no one had called him on it yet I wasn't going to be that guy.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Quick note, who said there was no combo in the top 8 again? What exactly are you counting Reanimator as? Especially as neither build looked anything like Orlove's hybrid control thingy.

[MattH]

If he had hit my Salvager in response to me cracking Diamond I'd have been impressed but unfortunately that didn't happen.

Note: you can't actually respond to cracking LED, as it's still a mana ability.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

When I got off the phone with the Nova crew last night, I believe Deep6er was 12th and Ewokslayer was 15th. So that puts 2 into T16. Don't count the deck, if you do you will regret it.



Cool. That makes it about exactly equal with Truffle Shuffle.

[scrumdogg]

Just so you know, He wasn't too lazy to go! It was our daughters birthday party, so swallow your foot.

A 3 day weekend & you couldn't plan around this? Lame :) Hope the midget had a good party cuz it was an amazing tournament. Did anyone get a chance to talk with Ray about when the next one might be? Or advocate for frequent repeats?

[herbigtoo]

Note: you can't actually respond to cracking LED, as it's still a mana ability.

Duh, I should have known that since I had a judge clarify basically the same ruling on the draw for Chromatic Sphere for me just before the tournament. I was afraid of it killing me against Solidarity.

[Lego]

But please note, that it did T16. I'd be interested in seeing the other 7 decks in T16 also. That information holds some value also.

I think we can probably piece it together. 3c Angel Stompy, 2 x Solidarity, 2 x Truffle Shuffle, what else are we missing?

Props:
Ray for running this thing.
Everyone I played agianst for being really nice. Even when kicking my ass.
Gearhart for still being my friend after I was such a tool.
Roland for turning my Aquamoebas into a signed set.
Matt Abold. Cuz.
Jander for the Haunting Echoes.
Me for making sure that Nightmare had the proper pimpedness to finish 2nd.
My final round oppponent, cuz it was the final round and stuff (who was this again?)
Triscuits and Soy Milk.

Slops:
Me for saying I'd never play an IBA deck again.
Me for making my ride wait an extra round just so I could pick up 6 packs.
Me for not knowing who anyone was.
Me for losing to Gro.
IBA for the above.
Oil companies for price gouging.

[Eldariel]

I heard another Faerie Stompy placed 14th.

[Happy Gilmore]

I was your last round opponent.

I only found out later that you were Lego Army Man. It was good to finally meet you in person.

[niknight]

I got 11th with WW/u. Why couldn't I see one of my 7 pro:red guys vs Feinstein??

[Nightmare]

I got 11th with WW/u. Why couldn't I see one of my 7 pro:red guys vs Feinstein??NOT EVEN GOD CAN SAVE YOU FROM THE APES!

TO DAVE FEINSTEIN!!!!

[Ta Jugs]

Hi everybody Dave Gearheart and Matt Abold told me to make an account so i did. Im the faerie stompy player who top 4'ed. Im relatively new to the format so im suprised i made top 8.

[NANTUKO_SHADY]

Hi everybody Dave Gearheart and Matt Abold told me to make an account so i did. Im the faerie stompy player who top 4'ed. Im relatively new to the format so im suprised i made top 8.


Faerie Stompy can be randomly insane with turn one dude. In addition, COTV for 1 often times just ends games right there.... COTV makes so many matchups just insane for you. W00t for Team Rochester!