Atwa
08-03-2007, 01:35 PM
Here is my report on the ‘The Source Tournament’ .
Although I had some successes with the previous decks I’ve played (Angel Stompy and Sun Tower), I’d decided to play a pretty new deck, which I’ve designed a couple of weeks ago, and which have been a little retooled by my team, IcBE. Here is the list:
IcBE Goyf Control v1.10
Lands:
4 Bayou
4 Scrubland
3 Windswept Heath
3 Wasteland
2 Savannah
2 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Bloodstained Mire
Creatures:
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
2 Mystic Enforcer
Instants:
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Darkblast
1 Funeral Charm
1 Orim’s Chant
1 Krosan Grip
Sorceries:
3 Duress
3 Reanimate
3 Vindicate
Enchantments:
3 Pernicious Deed
2 Seal of Primordium
Artifacts:
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
Sideboard:
4 Engineered Plague
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Orim’s Chant
2 Krosan Grip
1 Duress
1 Pithing Needle
If you are interested about this deck, or you think it’s a pile of shit and you want to scold at me for running it, here is a primer on this deck: *click* (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6531)
I’ve also made movies of almost all matches with a screen recorder, which will be included at the end of each match. If you want to kill a dead hour by watching them, the movies of round 1 and the Top 8 have over steered sound, so don’t put the volume too loud. I didn’t have a full version of the software, so I couldn’t make movies longer than 5 minutes during the 2 first matches. Since it broke down at the beginning of the third match, I don’t have a movie from that match.
The Tournament:
Round 1: Nantuko Shady with GRb(CRET?) Belcher
Game 1:
I lose the die roll, and draw a decent hand:
Windswept Heath
Savannah
Wasteland
Bayou
Vindicate
Pernicious Deed
Dark Confidant
He takes a mulligan and starts the game by comboing, but getting 1 mana short to actually activate his Belcher. I waste his lone Taiga, trying to keep him of mana as long as possible and after that he draws a card and passes.
I Duress him and take the Desperate Ritual I knew he had in his hand. I also see a Chrome Mox. He takes his turn and after a little while he asks me how I could have cast a Duress with only a Savannah in play. I took out the wrong land! We reverse the game state and I hope he doesn’t have the mana to activate Belcher.
He plays Mox, removing ritual from the game and he plays Wild Cantor. I draw Darkblast and after playing a scrubland (yeay, black mana) I cast it on the Cantor.
I Vindicate his Charbelcher a turn later and win the game with Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant.
1-0
Game 2:
I draw a hand of 5 lands, Seal of Primordium and Krosan Grip. Which I keep. Somehow I've forgotten about the ETW-kill.
We go draw-go for a couple of turn, when he starts to combo. When he plays a Burning wish with enough storm to kill me with EtW, I look at my hand for an Orim’s Chant, but all I have is a StP, so I lose. When pressing F2, I look again at my hand and see the StP is in fact an Orim’s Chant. That’s the second time I didn’t look good at my hand. This has in fact cost me the match, since I’m sure I would have won if I had played Orim’s Chant in response to the Burning Wish.
1-1
Game 3:
I keep a hand I have no reason to. I hoped a lone duress could save me enough time to draw some additional disruption, but his hand was too good for a single discard spell. I hoped to draw an Engineered Explosives, but I didn't.
I also found out I still had my Swords to Plowshares in the deck, which should be the first cards to board out against Belcher.
1-2
(0-1 in matches, 1-2 total in games)
I totally deserved to lose this match, since I didn’t look good enough at my hand twice (Savannah instead of Scrubland and not seeing the Chant). I can use excuses about not knowing my deck good enough, but these mistakes were just plain stupid.
Videos:
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-01.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-02.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-03.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-04.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-05.avi
Match 2: freakish777 with again CRET Belcher.
Game 1:
I lose the die roll and have a hand which would be a risky mulligan:
Duress
Swords to Plowshares
Swords to Plowshares
Vindicate
Bloodstained Mire
Mystic Enforcer
Dark Confidant
When I get the second land within the next 2 turns, I have a decent hand against Combo and Aggro, and Duress sure also helps against control. I decide to mulligan however. Next hand is crap so I mull to 5. My hand is:
Wasteland
Windswept Heath
Swamp
Duress
Engineered Explosives
Turn 1:
He comboes a little and ends his turn with 8 goblin tokens from ETW. Man am I glad I mulled into a Explosives.
I Draw Mystic Enforcer, play Swamp and Explosives and end the turn.
Turn 2:
He kicks me to 12 and passes the turn.
I draw StP, play Wasteland and pass the turn.
Turn 3:
He announces the attack and I blow the Explosives.
I Duress him and see Krosan Grip and LED. I take LED and pass the turn.
After this I start winning with Dark Confidant and Mystic Enforcer.
1-0
I side like this:
-4 Swords to Plowshares (I learned my lesson from the day before!)
-3 Reanimate
-2 Seal of Primordium
+1 Duress
+1 Pithing Needle
+3 Orim's Chant
+4 Engineered Plague
Game 2:
I draw a shitty hand and take a mulligan. I keep a hand of:
Wasteland
Windswept Heath
Tarmogoyf
Pithing Needle
Darkblast
Dark Confidant
In the begin of the game, he ripping my hand apart with some lucky double Cabal Therapy (taking Goyf and Confidant) and I played Pithing Needle on Goblin Charbelcher.
We draw go for a couple of turns, when he start beating down with an ESG. I get Plague down on spirit to buy me turns. I draw a second Plague which goes down on goblins. After this he basically tries to build up and I destroy every card he plays.
After a lot of turns I get a creature (Mystic Enforcer) and start beating down.
When he is at 8 he starts to combo. I'm not sure how he tried to win, since when he played a ritual, I responded with Orim's Chant, causing him a manaburn of 5 and no way out of my next attack (basically what I should have done the first match, I would have been at 2-0 in matches at this point if I had).
2-0
(1-1 in matches, 3-2 total in games)
Video coverage:
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-01.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-02.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-03.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-04.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-05.avi
Match 3: bigbear102 with some BRU control deck
He makes a remark about IcBE, and I realize he is from Epic. Cool, let's put some extra pressure on the match :)
Game 1
He wins the roll and we draw our hands. I have no idea what my hand was, since I didn't make the videos (they make writing reports a lot easier).
He started with a turn 1 Duress, which takes an Explosives.
I play a land.
He plays Hymn to Tourach, and I am afraid he is either playing Suicide, Pox or Deadguy, all matchups I haven't tested yet, but I feel they are bad for me.
I play a Goyf and pass.
He goes land, Diabolic Edict
I play Dark Confidant and pass
He plays Shadowmage Infiltrator and passes
I play a Goyf and pass
He attacks with Infiltrator and passes the turn
I play a second Goyf and start attacking.
He cleans the board with Damnation and plays Haunting Echoes after that, getting all creatures except my Mystic Enforcers. He is at 3 life.
I get lucky and draw one of my Enforcers, for which he has no answer, I win
1-0
I side out a Krosan grip and my Seals for Orim's Chant and the last Duress.
Game 2
He cleared the board in turn 4 and after that we both drew almost only lands. When I drew a tread, he had an answer and after some 20 turns he won with Haunting Echoes.
1-1
Game 3:
I take a mulligan, and played a turn 1 Duress. His hand was Swamp, Underground Sea, 2x Dark Ritual, Fact or Fiction and Shadowmage Infiltrator.
Some thinking tells me he can play turn 2 Hymn and Infiltrator, which was probably his main plan for this battle. I decide to take his Hymn (turn 2 Infiltrator is still possible, but will cause a manaburn).
He plays a Swamp and passes.
I play a Dark Confidant.
He plays the Underground Sea and passes.
I draw a Duress and play it, to which he responds with a Fact or Fiction (powered by a Dark Ritual). He reveals: Burning Wish (with which he can get Echoes, Damnation, Pyroclasm, he played them all), Engineered Explosives (I also have Goyf in my hand), Lightning Bolt, Sea and Pyroclasm. I make one pile of Engineered Explosives and Bolt, which he takes. I grab the Explosives with the Duress I played and cast the Goyf.
That basically won me the game, he only played a couple of Shadowmages, which I Sworded and Vindicated. At last he tried to buy a turn by playing Engineered Plague on the Goyf and Bolting the Confidant (which would put him on 1 after an attack, but I had the Vindicate to remove the Plague, growing my Goyf to full strength.
2-1
(2-1 in matches, 5-3 total in games)
Match 4: Andros, he was playing Trainwreck.
The guy is from Finland, it was the first match I didn't have to play in the night or very early before I go to work.
Game 1:
I don't know the guy and I have no idea what he can be playing. After losing the die roll, I draw a hand of: Engineered Explosives, Pithing Needle, Pernicious Deed and Tarmogoyf, 3 land.
He plays a first turn Duress, grabbing my Needle.
I go land -> pass
We only lay lands for the next couple of turn until I play a Pernicious deed.
He does nothing during his turn and I cast a Tarmogoyf, which he get's rid off with a Innocent Blood.
Again we both basically only play lands and pass for a while until he plays his own Pernicious Deed, to get rid of mine. I Krosan Grip it end of turn and do nothing during my turn.
At his next turn he plays another Deed and after that I draw a seal of Primordium. I play it to see if he does want to get rid of my deed and like I thought, he blowed his one to get rid of mine.
After this we trade a few cards until he get's his Helldozer. He gets rid of pretty much all my lands and starts attacking. In 30 cards I never saw the StP I needed.
0-1 (first time I lost a first game, must be some bad omen)
I have again no idea what to board, but I do know I like to safe my creatures from his Innocent Bloods, so at least I get my chalices.
-1 Orim's Chant
-2 Darkblast
-2 Engineered Explosives
-2 Seal of Primordium
+1 Duress
+1 Krosan Grip
+1 Pithing Needle
+4 Chalice of the Void
Game 2:
On the play I get a very risky hand, but I decide to go for it: 3x Chalice of the Void, Pernicious Deed, Reanimate and 2 Land.
I play a Plains (basics for the win against Helldozer) and pass.
He plays a first turn Duress and takes my reanimate.
I play a turn 2 Chalice for 1, and he plays only a land.
Only lay a land turn 3 and he does nothing. Looks like he is manascrewed.
Turn 4 I play a Mystic Enforcer.
Turn 5 Pernicious Deed
Turn 6 Tarmogoyf.
At this point he has 3 land, of which a Cabal Coffers and I have 2 Chalices and a Pithing Needle in my hand. My Goyf is only 2/3 and I am looking for a way to speed up my clock. My plan was to Deed Chalice, play a Pithing Needle on Helldozer and replay a Chalice for 1.
I did get rid of Chalice, but in response to my Needle, he plays Extirpate on Chalice of the Void, getting rid of 2 cards in my hand and destroying my strategy. It doesn't really matter, since I kill him with a Goyf and a Mystic Enforcer
1-1
Game 3:
I had a nice start: Turn 1 Duress, Turn 2 Dark Confidant. I have another Confidant in my hand, along with a Mystic Enforcer and 3 land.
At his turn 3 he plays Innocent Blood and a Hymn to Tourach, and at his turn 4 he plays Regrowth, so he could replay his Hymn. I am left sitting with 3 lands in play and 1 in my hand. At this point I already think I've lost the match, but I never concede before I know for sure I can't win anymore.
At one point I get a Chalice for 1 out, which he get's rid of with a Deed. In this game he also plays 3(!) Extirpates, getting my Chalices, Dark Confidants and Mystic Enforcers. That card is really good against me.
A couple of turn later he plays Duress, grabbing the Vindicate. After this I draw a Tarmogoyf, which I play as a 4/5. He answers with an Innocent Blood.
I draw another Goyf and play it as 5/6. He responds with Rogrowth and Innocent Blood. The turn after that I get it again with a Reanimate.
He plays Duress and get's my StP over Krosan Grip, something which makes me feel he is going to respond with Helldozer, not Pernicious Deed.
I was right, he played the Dozer. I look at my Goyf and see he is still a 5/6, no match for the Helldozer. I pray for an artifact and god must really like me since I got a Pithing Needle. I play Needle, destroy it with Krosan Grip and grow my Goyf a 6/7 and start attacking. While he is at 5 he blocks, sending his Helldozer to the grave. I decide to steal it with a Reanimate and that's game.
2-1 in the most thrilling match so far.
(3-1 in matches, 7-4 total in games)
And here is the video:
http://www.icbe.nl/match4.avi
Match 5: White-ghost with a Red 5/3ish Deck.
Game 1:
I draw my hand after I've lost the die roll. I have a decent hand with some control cards and a Confidant, so I decide to keep.
He goes: 2-mana land, Mox Diamond, Magus of the Moon!
I look at my hand and see only non-basics. I hope to get a plains for the lone StP I have, but he plays a second Magus and that's game.
0-1
Game 2:
I've seen nothing except the Magus from his deck, so I side nothing.
I draw a decent hand and decide to play.
I play a savannah and pass.
He plays a land, 2 moxen, a Goblin Welder and a Chalice for 1. I send the Welder farming and take the turn.
I play a Tarmogoyf (at 2/3) and pass. He does something with mana and plays a Juggernaut.
After thinking I play a Pithing Needle, which gets countered by Chalice, growing my Goyf to 3/4 and attack. He takes 3 damage and I play another Goyf.
He must attack with his Juggernaut which I block with the untapped Goyf, which kills them both and grows my other Goyf to 4/5.
I draw the 3rd Goyf of the game and play it after attacking.
He plays a Razormane Masticore and passes the turn. I wonder if I'll still be able to put any pressure on, but I get lucky and topdeck a Pernicious Deed, which I play and blow to get rid of Chalice, after this I can play Swords to Plowshares on the Masticore and he gives up.
1-1
Game 3:
I replace my 2 Darkblasts with Krosan Grips from the side.
He begins with an Ancient Tomb, which I get rid of with Wasteland in my turn.
Turn 2 He plays a Crystal Vein and passes, after which I play a Plains.
Turn 3 He plays another Vein, and I also play another land.
Turn 4 He plays a land, and sacces his Veins to play a Razormane. Normally I would be afraid, but after looking in my hand I feel a sadistic glee coming up. I Krosan Grip the Razormane and after he does something irrelevant, I Reanimate his Razormane and play a 3/4 Goyf.
That's game!
2-1
(4-1 in matches, 8-5 total in games)
And off course the movie (very short this one):
http://www.icbe.nl/match5.avi
After this I was thinking I wouldn’t advance to the Top 8, so I was basically waiting to see if I got really lucky and I had good tiebreakers. Well I hadn’t and I was ranked 9th. Some people were advocating a 6th round, because there were some people who thought it was unfair people who were at X-1 couldn’t qualify (my story, basically. 1 misplayed Chant would have costed me the top 8). Especially Tao was a big advocate of this and I really want to thank him for the effort. Parcher conceded and we had a 6th round.
Round 6: against steffri666 with U/B Fish?.
Game 1:
I lose the die roll (like I have in every other match until now) and draw a hand of: Funeral Charm, Seal of Primordium, Tarmogoyf, Darkblast, Wasteland, Savannah and Bayou. That's a nice begin hand against a unknown deck, so I keep it.
He opens with a Polluted Delta and passes the turn, so I still have no idea what he's playing (although I already ruled out Burn and Goblins). I play a Bayou and the Charm, hoping he discards something which gives me some info about which deck he is playing. He discards and Island and still not knowing what I'm up against I pass the turn.
He fetches a Swamp and passes after laying down a Flooded Island. Al I know is he plays at least B/U, but still nothing. I am figuring Fish at the moment. I lay down the Plains I just drew and decide to play a Seal of Primordium. I could also have play the Tarmogoyf, but since it would only be 2/3, I wanted to go in defense first.
He fetches an Island (is the guy telepathic? Does the guy mind read I have a Wasteland in my hand?), lays down another polluted Delta and plays Serum Visions.
After this I try to play a Tarmogoyf which get's FoW'd and when I play Reanimate, it get's dazed. He plays a Dark Confidant, which I Darkblast and I play a Confidant of my own.
I attack a couple of times until I draw a Tarmogoyf, and after I play it, it get's killed by a Ghastly Demise. I later Reanimate it and this time it lives.
A turn later I play a duress and my Goyf get's killed in response again (why does every opponent hate that guy?). I take a Brainstorm (the guy has only 2 lands, and I down want him to get the third) and attack. After this I play a second Confidant.
He gets a Confidant of his own, but I StP it, since I don't want any blockers and proceed to kill him. He gives up when I vindicate a land and he is at 2 life.
1-0
I side:
+4 Chalice of the Void (I hate Ghastly Demise)
+1 Duress (always nice against Control)
-1 Orim's Chant
-2 Seal of Primordium (no targets)
-2 Pithing Needle (no targets)
Game 2:
I draw a very risky hand: 2x Mystic Enforcer, Swords to Plowshares, Reanimate and 3 lands. I think for a while and decide to keep it.
I normally wouldn't do that, but I've seen no discard so far and it looks like he only plays 8 counterspells. His only removal I've seen is Demise, for which Enforcer is immune, and I've boarded Chalice to deal with it. I take the gamble, since I once already thought I would be out of the tourney (9th in the Swiss), I hadn’t counted on top 8ing anyway.
He opens with Fetch into Underground Sea and casts Serum Visions. I only play a land and pass.
In his second turn, he plays a land and Withered Wretch, something I hadn't count on. I StP it at the end of his turn.
Again I lay a land and pass the turn. During his turn he plays a Dimir Cutpurse (man I love that card) and he passes.
After an attack, which draws him a card and makes me discard a Reanimate (I had another one in my hand) he plays a Phyrexian Negator. I swallow hard and take the turn.
Since I want to be able to block the Negator, I risk getting both FoW'ed and dazed and play an Enforcer; with only 4 lands in play. He does have a daze ready however (surprisingly) and after my turn he attacks me with both creatures, which puts me at 11. I discard a Chalice for the cutpurse. I'm not afraid for Demise at this point and I want to be able to play both Reanimate, and a future StP. He also plays a Pithing Needle on Pernicious Deed.
During my turn I try to lure out a Counterspell by playing Reanimate, to which he respond with brainstorm (which makes me believe he doesn't have any in his hand at that moment) and plays a Force of Will.
Hoping to get lucky I cast the other Enforcer in my hand and he doesn't have any counters anymore. This at least stops him attacking me, buying a few turns to find a permanent answer. He destroys a couple of lands with Wasteland and Sinkhole (cutting me off white mana).
Next turn I draw a Swords, so I play the Delta I'd kept in my hand and StP the Negator. This gets me threshold and I start eating his life with a 6/6. According to some quick (and probably inaccurate) calculations this should win me the game a turn before he beats me. That means: when he doesn't lay down any more treats. The discard can't hurt me, since I have the mana to play every card I draw.
During his turn he plays a second Cutpurse, and I really start wondering if I should keep on attacking. I draw a Confidant however and reason I'll just block one of the cutpurses, so I keep the pressure on.
It basically happened how I'd planned and in my turn I draw the Engineered Explosives to seal the deal. He congrats me with my place in the Top 8 and I have never been so grateful to a German (both Tao and steffri666)before (except for my wife, right after an orgasm).
2-0
(5-1 in matches, 10-5 total in games)
And the movie (with only music from Naruto this time):
http://www.icbe.nl/match6.avi
Cool, I’m in the Top 8 again. Since we had been one of the firsts to complete our match, I had to wait a long time to see who my opponent would become. I really didn’t want to face Tao, since both time I’ve played before, he kicked me out of the tournament. The guy is a really good player, and I fear him the most of any other player in the Top 8.
Final standings are online and I look eagerly who will be my next opponent. Damn! It’s Tao.
Now I know Tao has a little thing with Black Survival and I was suspecting him to play it again. I also know he is a master piloting it, so I figured this was going to be my last match.
Top 8 match against Tao with Gbw Survival.
Game 1:
I draw hand full of bombs, but with only 1 land, so I mulligan. My second hand had only a Wasteland as mana, so I needed to mull again. Somehow, I feel it's my fate to never beat this German.
I keep a hand of: Darkblast, Swords to Plowshares, Dark Confidant, Bayou and Scrubland. I lose the die roll again and I see Tao playing a Fetchland.
I draw a Duress and play it after laying down a land. I see a hand full of land, creatures, a Cabal Therapy and a Survival. Seems that I was right about Black Survival. I pick Survival.
After this he Wastelands a land and after I've erased a creature with StP, he erases them all with Extirpate. He starts beating down with some Tarmogoyf and I never get the 3rd land I need for the 2 Vindicates I have in my hand. When I do get it, I can kill one of them, but he picks the other one out of my hand with a Therapy.
That Wasteland really screwed me.
0-1
Game 2:
I side:
-2 Darkblast
-1 Funeral Charm
-1 Orim's Chant
+2 Krosan Grip
+1 Pithing Needle
+1 Duress
I draw the following hand: 2x Land, 2x Duress, Seal of Primordium, Pithing Needle and Mystic Enforcer.
That is a very nice hand against Survival, but I knew that I could get screwed if I faced another Wasteland, just like last game. I decide to take the risk however.
Turn 1 I fetch for a Swamp and Duress him, revealing 2x Wall of Blossoms, Pernicious Deed, Tribe Elder, 2x land and Eternal Witness. I have to take the Deed and I pass the turn.
After he plays a land and passes I play a Dark Confidant. He plays a Wall of Blossoms as a blocker and passes again.
I Duress again, hoping to get something, but he only has land and creatures. Although I'd seen he has an Harmonic Sliver, I decide to play a Seal, and hope he would kill it before he plays a Survival, making way for my Pithing Needle.
He plays another Wall and passes. Since I'm expecting we will get into a resources war eventually, and he has good blocker, I play another Confidant, hoping not to get too damaged. This turns out to work out well, I have gotten maybe 7 damage the rest of the match. I also play a Pithing Needle on survival, hoping to put more pressure on him
A turn later I play a Mystic Enforcer with no threshold, and wait how he'll react. He decides to play the Harmonic, and after some thinking I realize it doesn't really matter if he'll use survival, I just need to finish the job as soon as possible. I use seal to destroy my own needle, putting the number of card in my grave at 5, and StP the Tarmogoyf he plays after his sliver.
At this time I realized I've sided out my Darkblasts, which has been a mistake. Those things just win you games when both players are using Goyfs. Anyway, Confidant gets me a Wasteland, which I use to get rid of any land, reaching me threshold.
I start beating with the Enforcer and there's basically nothing he can do about it. He does play a Survival of the Fittest, but when I waste his only untapped dual, he gives up.
1-1
Game 3:
I do not side anything and take a hand of: 2xGoyf, StP, Deed, E. Explosives and 2x land.
He starts with a turn 1 Therapy, guessing Duress, and grabbing nothing.
I draw a Wasteland and destroy him bayou, hoping to get him manascrewed.
He get's a turn 3 Survival, and I play a Goyf, making sure a flashbacked Therapy won't get 20% of my win conditions.
He only puts a land into play and I play a Deed. I could have also played Explosives, but I felt he could also play bigger creatures. I wanted to have a real reset button. He survivals a little and plays during his turn a Harmonic, molesting Deed. He flashes back Therapy to get Explosives, and I am left with not reset buttons. That sucks.
He plays a Wall and to make sure to get some damage through I cast StP on it. This also grows my Goyf to 5/6 and I start inflicting some serious damage. He does send a Goyf Farming, and I play another one.
He plays a Goyf of own and at this point I realize I forgot to put my Darkblasts back in the deck. My brother was watching, and since I am trying to get him into playing serious legacy, I was so busy explaining what I was doing, I totally forgot about them. My little brother pointed out that mistake actually, so it looks like he is at least learning something.
I decide to go all out now, since I don’t have any real comb tricks in my deck. I play a second Goyf and a Confidant and pray he doesn’t get a Pernicious Deed. He doesn't and I win the game.
2-1
Video:
http://www.icbe.nl/top8.avi
We played this match Sunday, being the first top 8 match to be finished, so I have to wait a little until I can play my next match. I had no idea however it would take Tacosnape and Illusius 4 days to decide who was going to battle me. I can understand how it happened, but I got a little irritated while waiting.
However, me, Adan, Van Phanel and some of my teammates have been spamming the thread with some thrash-talk, killing time. On Tuesday being at work, I see the results of the last top 8 match, and it took them 2 hours and 14 minutes to finish their first game only. That’s long! Anyway, now I finally know who my opponent is:
Top 4 match against Illusius, with Ubg Landstill
I had literally no chance in this match. It was basiclly a slaughterhouse.
I won’t tell to much of the guy’s deck, since he still has to play the finals, but I never had a chance.
Lost 0-2
Props:
Parcher: For again running this tournament. The guy deserves some serious credit for this.
My opponents: For all being cool guys and some for playing at difficult times.
Tarmogoyf: Simply for being the best creature printed in the last couple of years.
MWS: Although unstable as hell; still the best way to play magic online.
IcBE: For the overall support while building the deck and the tournament.
My Job: For allowing me to build this deck at an 18 hour workday.
Anybody who advocated a 6th round: I wouldn’t have top 8ed if you didn’t.
Anybody who played: Thanks for all who made this tournament a success.
Slops:
MWS: Not winning a die roll once!
Magus of the Moon: That guy single-handedly hoses my deck.
Time zones: Playing during holidays makes it bearable, but I sill hate time differences.
ZD screenrecorder: For quitting on me at the start of round 3.
Although I had some successes with the previous decks I’ve played (Angel Stompy and Sun Tower), I’d decided to play a pretty new deck, which I’ve designed a couple of weeks ago, and which have been a little retooled by my team, IcBE. Here is the list:
IcBE Goyf Control v1.10
Lands:
4 Bayou
4 Scrubland
3 Windswept Heath
3 Wasteland
2 Savannah
2 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Bloodstained Mire
Creatures:
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
2 Mystic Enforcer
Instants:
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Darkblast
1 Funeral Charm
1 Orim’s Chant
1 Krosan Grip
Sorceries:
3 Duress
3 Reanimate
3 Vindicate
Enchantments:
3 Pernicious Deed
2 Seal of Primordium
Artifacts:
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
Sideboard:
4 Engineered Plague
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Orim’s Chant
2 Krosan Grip
1 Duress
1 Pithing Needle
If you are interested about this deck, or you think it’s a pile of shit and you want to scold at me for running it, here is a primer on this deck: *click* (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6531)
I’ve also made movies of almost all matches with a screen recorder, which will be included at the end of each match. If you want to kill a dead hour by watching them, the movies of round 1 and the Top 8 have over steered sound, so don’t put the volume too loud. I didn’t have a full version of the software, so I couldn’t make movies longer than 5 minutes during the 2 first matches. Since it broke down at the beginning of the third match, I don’t have a movie from that match.
The Tournament:
Round 1: Nantuko Shady with GRb(CRET?) Belcher
Game 1:
I lose the die roll, and draw a decent hand:
Windswept Heath
Savannah
Wasteland
Bayou
Vindicate
Pernicious Deed
Dark Confidant
He takes a mulligan and starts the game by comboing, but getting 1 mana short to actually activate his Belcher. I waste his lone Taiga, trying to keep him of mana as long as possible and after that he draws a card and passes.
I Duress him and take the Desperate Ritual I knew he had in his hand. I also see a Chrome Mox. He takes his turn and after a little while he asks me how I could have cast a Duress with only a Savannah in play. I took out the wrong land! We reverse the game state and I hope he doesn’t have the mana to activate Belcher.
He plays Mox, removing ritual from the game and he plays Wild Cantor. I draw Darkblast and after playing a scrubland (yeay, black mana) I cast it on the Cantor.
I Vindicate his Charbelcher a turn later and win the game with Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant.
1-0
Game 2:
I draw a hand of 5 lands, Seal of Primordium and Krosan Grip. Which I keep. Somehow I've forgotten about the ETW-kill.
We go draw-go for a couple of turn, when he starts to combo. When he plays a Burning wish with enough storm to kill me with EtW, I look at my hand for an Orim’s Chant, but all I have is a StP, so I lose. When pressing F2, I look again at my hand and see the StP is in fact an Orim’s Chant. That’s the second time I didn’t look good at my hand. This has in fact cost me the match, since I’m sure I would have won if I had played Orim’s Chant in response to the Burning Wish.
1-1
Game 3:
I keep a hand I have no reason to. I hoped a lone duress could save me enough time to draw some additional disruption, but his hand was too good for a single discard spell. I hoped to draw an Engineered Explosives, but I didn't.
I also found out I still had my Swords to Plowshares in the deck, which should be the first cards to board out against Belcher.
1-2
(0-1 in matches, 1-2 total in games)
I totally deserved to lose this match, since I didn’t look good enough at my hand twice (Savannah instead of Scrubland and not seeing the Chant). I can use excuses about not knowing my deck good enough, but these mistakes were just plain stupid.
Videos:
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-01.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-02.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-03.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-04.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match1-05.avi
Match 2: freakish777 with again CRET Belcher.
Game 1:
I lose the die roll and have a hand which would be a risky mulligan:
Duress
Swords to Plowshares
Swords to Plowshares
Vindicate
Bloodstained Mire
Mystic Enforcer
Dark Confidant
When I get the second land within the next 2 turns, I have a decent hand against Combo and Aggro, and Duress sure also helps against control. I decide to mulligan however. Next hand is crap so I mull to 5. My hand is:
Wasteland
Windswept Heath
Swamp
Duress
Engineered Explosives
Turn 1:
He comboes a little and ends his turn with 8 goblin tokens from ETW. Man am I glad I mulled into a Explosives.
I Draw Mystic Enforcer, play Swamp and Explosives and end the turn.
Turn 2:
He kicks me to 12 and passes the turn.
I draw StP, play Wasteland and pass the turn.
Turn 3:
He announces the attack and I blow the Explosives.
I Duress him and see Krosan Grip and LED. I take LED and pass the turn.
After this I start winning with Dark Confidant and Mystic Enforcer.
1-0
I side like this:
-4 Swords to Plowshares (I learned my lesson from the day before!)
-3 Reanimate
-2 Seal of Primordium
+1 Duress
+1 Pithing Needle
+3 Orim's Chant
+4 Engineered Plague
Game 2:
I draw a shitty hand and take a mulligan. I keep a hand of:
Wasteland
Windswept Heath
Tarmogoyf
Pithing Needle
Darkblast
Dark Confidant
In the begin of the game, he ripping my hand apart with some lucky double Cabal Therapy (taking Goyf and Confidant) and I played Pithing Needle on Goblin Charbelcher.
We draw go for a couple of turns, when he start beating down with an ESG. I get Plague down on spirit to buy me turns. I draw a second Plague which goes down on goblins. After this he basically tries to build up and I destroy every card he plays.
After a lot of turns I get a creature (Mystic Enforcer) and start beating down.
When he is at 8 he starts to combo. I'm not sure how he tried to win, since when he played a ritual, I responded with Orim's Chant, causing him a manaburn of 5 and no way out of my next attack (basically what I should have done the first match, I would have been at 2-0 in matches at this point if I had).
2-0
(1-1 in matches, 3-2 total in games)
Video coverage:
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-01.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-02.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-03.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-04.avi
http://www.icbe.nl/match2-05.avi
Match 3: bigbear102 with some BRU control deck
He makes a remark about IcBE, and I realize he is from Epic. Cool, let's put some extra pressure on the match :)
Game 1
He wins the roll and we draw our hands. I have no idea what my hand was, since I didn't make the videos (they make writing reports a lot easier).
He started with a turn 1 Duress, which takes an Explosives.
I play a land.
He plays Hymn to Tourach, and I am afraid he is either playing Suicide, Pox or Deadguy, all matchups I haven't tested yet, but I feel they are bad for me.
I play a Goyf and pass.
He goes land, Diabolic Edict
I play Dark Confidant and pass
He plays Shadowmage Infiltrator and passes
I play a Goyf and pass
He attacks with Infiltrator and passes the turn
I play a second Goyf and start attacking.
He cleans the board with Damnation and plays Haunting Echoes after that, getting all creatures except my Mystic Enforcers. He is at 3 life.
I get lucky and draw one of my Enforcers, for which he has no answer, I win
1-0
I side out a Krosan grip and my Seals for Orim's Chant and the last Duress.
Game 2
He cleared the board in turn 4 and after that we both drew almost only lands. When I drew a tread, he had an answer and after some 20 turns he won with Haunting Echoes.
1-1
Game 3:
I take a mulligan, and played a turn 1 Duress. His hand was Swamp, Underground Sea, 2x Dark Ritual, Fact or Fiction and Shadowmage Infiltrator.
Some thinking tells me he can play turn 2 Hymn and Infiltrator, which was probably his main plan for this battle. I decide to take his Hymn (turn 2 Infiltrator is still possible, but will cause a manaburn).
He plays a Swamp and passes.
I play a Dark Confidant.
He plays the Underground Sea and passes.
I draw a Duress and play it, to which he responds with a Fact or Fiction (powered by a Dark Ritual). He reveals: Burning Wish (with which he can get Echoes, Damnation, Pyroclasm, he played them all), Engineered Explosives (I also have Goyf in my hand), Lightning Bolt, Sea and Pyroclasm. I make one pile of Engineered Explosives and Bolt, which he takes. I grab the Explosives with the Duress I played and cast the Goyf.
That basically won me the game, he only played a couple of Shadowmages, which I Sworded and Vindicated. At last he tried to buy a turn by playing Engineered Plague on the Goyf and Bolting the Confidant (which would put him on 1 after an attack, but I had the Vindicate to remove the Plague, growing my Goyf to full strength.
2-1
(2-1 in matches, 5-3 total in games)
Match 4: Andros, he was playing Trainwreck.
The guy is from Finland, it was the first match I didn't have to play in the night or very early before I go to work.
Game 1:
I don't know the guy and I have no idea what he can be playing. After losing the die roll, I draw a hand of: Engineered Explosives, Pithing Needle, Pernicious Deed and Tarmogoyf, 3 land.
He plays a first turn Duress, grabbing my Needle.
I go land -> pass
We only lay lands for the next couple of turn until I play a Pernicious deed.
He does nothing during his turn and I cast a Tarmogoyf, which he get's rid off with a Innocent Blood.
Again we both basically only play lands and pass for a while until he plays his own Pernicious Deed, to get rid of mine. I Krosan Grip it end of turn and do nothing during my turn.
At his next turn he plays another Deed and after that I draw a seal of Primordium. I play it to see if he does want to get rid of my deed and like I thought, he blowed his one to get rid of mine.
After this we trade a few cards until he get's his Helldozer. He gets rid of pretty much all my lands and starts attacking. In 30 cards I never saw the StP I needed.
0-1 (first time I lost a first game, must be some bad omen)
I have again no idea what to board, but I do know I like to safe my creatures from his Innocent Bloods, so at least I get my chalices.
-1 Orim's Chant
-2 Darkblast
-2 Engineered Explosives
-2 Seal of Primordium
+1 Duress
+1 Krosan Grip
+1 Pithing Needle
+4 Chalice of the Void
Game 2:
On the play I get a very risky hand, but I decide to go for it: 3x Chalice of the Void, Pernicious Deed, Reanimate and 2 Land.
I play a Plains (basics for the win against Helldozer) and pass.
He plays a first turn Duress and takes my reanimate.
I play a turn 2 Chalice for 1, and he plays only a land.
Only lay a land turn 3 and he does nothing. Looks like he is manascrewed.
Turn 4 I play a Mystic Enforcer.
Turn 5 Pernicious Deed
Turn 6 Tarmogoyf.
At this point he has 3 land, of which a Cabal Coffers and I have 2 Chalices and a Pithing Needle in my hand. My Goyf is only 2/3 and I am looking for a way to speed up my clock. My plan was to Deed Chalice, play a Pithing Needle on Helldozer and replay a Chalice for 1.
I did get rid of Chalice, but in response to my Needle, he plays Extirpate on Chalice of the Void, getting rid of 2 cards in my hand and destroying my strategy. It doesn't really matter, since I kill him with a Goyf and a Mystic Enforcer
1-1
Game 3:
I had a nice start: Turn 1 Duress, Turn 2 Dark Confidant. I have another Confidant in my hand, along with a Mystic Enforcer and 3 land.
At his turn 3 he plays Innocent Blood and a Hymn to Tourach, and at his turn 4 he plays Regrowth, so he could replay his Hymn. I am left sitting with 3 lands in play and 1 in my hand. At this point I already think I've lost the match, but I never concede before I know for sure I can't win anymore.
At one point I get a Chalice for 1 out, which he get's rid of with a Deed. In this game he also plays 3(!) Extirpates, getting my Chalices, Dark Confidants and Mystic Enforcers. That card is really good against me.
A couple of turn later he plays Duress, grabbing the Vindicate. After this I draw a Tarmogoyf, which I play as a 4/5. He answers with an Innocent Blood.
I draw another Goyf and play it as 5/6. He responds with Rogrowth and Innocent Blood. The turn after that I get it again with a Reanimate.
He plays Duress and get's my StP over Krosan Grip, something which makes me feel he is going to respond with Helldozer, not Pernicious Deed.
I was right, he played the Dozer. I look at my Goyf and see he is still a 5/6, no match for the Helldozer. I pray for an artifact and god must really like me since I got a Pithing Needle. I play Needle, destroy it with Krosan Grip and grow my Goyf a 6/7 and start attacking. While he is at 5 he blocks, sending his Helldozer to the grave. I decide to steal it with a Reanimate and that's game.
2-1 in the most thrilling match so far.
(3-1 in matches, 7-4 total in games)
And here is the video:
http://www.icbe.nl/match4.avi
Match 5: White-ghost with a Red 5/3ish Deck.
Game 1:
I draw my hand after I've lost the die roll. I have a decent hand with some control cards and a Confidant, so I decide to keep.
He goes: 2-mana land, Mox Diamond, Magus of the Moon!
I look at my hand and see only non-basics. I hope to get a plains for the lone StP I have, but he plays a second Magus and that's game.
0-1
Game 2:
I've seen nothing except the Magus from his deck, so I side nothing.
I draw a decent hand and decide to play.
I play a savannah and pass.
He plays a land, 2 moxen, a Goblin Welder and a Chalice for 1. I send the Welder farming and take the turn.
I play a Tarmogoyf (at 2/3) and pass. He does something with mana and plays a Juggernaut.
After thinking I play a Pithing Needle, which gets countered by Chalice, growing my Goyf to 3/4 and attack. He takes 3 damage and I play another Goyf.
He must attack with his Juggernaut which I block with the untapped Goyf, which kills them both and grows my other Goyf to 4/5.
I draw the 3rd Goyf of the game and play it after attacking.
He plays a Razormane Masticore and passes the turn. I wonder if I'll still be able to put any pressure on, but I get lucky and topdeck a Pernicious Deed, which I play and blow to get rid of Chalice, after this I can play Swords to Plowshares on the Masticore and he gives up.
1-1
Game 3:
I replace my 2 Darkblasts with Krosan Grips from the side.
He begins with an Ancient Tomb, which I get rid of with Wasteland in my turn.
Turn 2 He plays a Crystal Vein and passes, after which I play a Plains.
Turn 3 He plays another Vein, and I also play another land.
Turn 4 He plays a land, and sacces his Veins to play a Razormane. Normally I would be afraid, but after looking in my hand I feel a sadistic glee coming up. I Krosan Grip the Razormane and after he does something irrelevant, I Reanimate his Razormane and play a 3/4 Goyf.
That's game!
2-1
(4-1 in matches, 8-5 total in games)
And off course the movie (very short this one):
http://www.icbe.nl/match5.avi
After this I was thinking I wouldn’t advance to the Top 8, so I was basically waiting to see if I got really lucky and I had good tiebreakers. Well I hadn’t and I was ranked 9th. Some people were advocating a 6th round, because there were some people who thought it was unfair people who were at X-1 couldn’t qualify (my story, basically. 1 misplayed Chant would have costed me the top 8). Especially Tao was a big advocate of this and I really want to thank him for the effort. Parcher conceded and we had a 6th round.
Round 6: against steffri666 with U/B Fish?.
Game 1:
I lose the die roll (like I have in every other match until now) and draw a hand of: Funeral Charm, Seal of Primordium, Tarmogoyf, Darkblast, Wasteland, Savannah and Bayou. That's a nice begin hand against a unknown deck, so I keep it.
He opens with a Polluted Delta and passes the turn, so I still have no idea what he's playing (although I already ruled out Burn and Goblins). I play a Bayou and the Charm, hoping he discards something which gives me some info about which deck he is playing. He discards and Island and still not knowing what I'm up against I pass the turn.
He fetches a Swamp and passes after laying down a Flooded Island. Al I know is he plays at least B/U, but still nothing. I am figuring Fish at the moment. I lay down the Plains I just drew and decide to play a Seal of Primordium. I could also have play the Tarmogoyf, but since it would only be 2/3, I wanted to go in defense first.
He fetches an Island (is the guy telepathic? Does the guy mind read I have a Wasteland in my hand?), lays down another polluted Delta and plays Serum Visions.
After this I try to play a Tarmogoyf which get's FoW'd and when I play Reanimate, it get's dazed. He plays a Dark Confidant, which I Darkblast and I play a Confidant of my own.
I attack a couple of times until I draw a Tarmogoyf, and after I play it, it get's killed by a Ghastly Demise. I later Reanimate it and this time it lives.
A turn later I play a duress and my Goyf get's killed in response again (why does every opponent hate that guy?). I take a Brainstorm (the guy has only 2 lands, and I down want him to get the third) and attack. After this I play a second Confidant.
He gets a Confidant of his own, but I StP it, since I don't want any blockers and proceed to kill him. He gives up when I vindicate a land and he is at 2 life.
1-0
I side:
+4 Chalice of the Void (I hate Ghastly Demise)
+1 Duress (always nice against Control)
-1 Orim's Chant
-2 Seal of Primordium (no targets)
-2 Pithing Needle (no targets)
Game 2:
I draw a very risky hand: 2x Mystic Enforcer, Swords to Plowshares, Reanimate and 3 lands. I think for a while and decide to keep it.
I normally wouldn't do that, but I've seen no discard so far and it looks like he only plays 8 counterspells. His only removal I've seen is Demise, for which Enforcer is immune, and I've boarded Chalice to deal with it. I take the gamble, since I once already thought I would be out of the tourney (9th in the Swiss), I hadn’t counted on top 8ing anyway.
He opens with Fetch into Underground Sea and casts Serum Visions. I only play a land and pass.
In his second turn, he plays a land and Withered Wretch, something I hadn't count on. I StP it at the end of his turn.
Again I lay a land and pass the turn. During his turn he plays a Dimir Cutpurse (man I love that card) and he passes.
After an attack, which draws him a card and makes me discard a Reanimate (I had another one in my hand) he plays a Phyrexian Negator. I swallow hard and take the turn.
Since I want to be able to block the Negator, I risk getting both FoW'ed and dazed and play an Enforcer; with only 4 lands in play. He does have a daze ready however (surprisingly) and after my turn he attacks me with both creatures, which puts me at 11. I discard a Chalice for the cutpurse. I'm not afraid for Demise at this point and I want to be able to play both Reanimate, and a future StP. He also plays a Pithing Needle on Pernicious Deed.
During my turn I try to lure out a Counterspell by playing Reanimate, to which he respond with brainstorm (which makes me believe he doesn't have any in his hand at that moment) and plays a Force of Will.
Hoping to get lucky I cast the other Enforcer in my hand and he doesn't have any counters anymore. This at least stops him attacking me, buying a few turns to find a permanent answer. He destroys a couple of lands with Wasteland and Sinkhole (cutting me off white mana).
Next turn I draw a Swords, so I play the Delta I'd kept in my hand and StP the Negator. This gets me threshold and I start eating his life with a 6/6. According to some quick (and probably inaccurate) calculations this should win me the game a turn before he beats me. That means: when he doesn't lay down any more treats. The discard can't hurt me, since I have the mana to play every card I draw.
During his turn he plays a second Cutpurse, and I really start wondering if I should keep on attacking. I draw a Confidant however and reason I'll just block one of the cutpurses, so I keep the pressure on.
It basically happened how I'd planned and in my turn I draw the Engineered Explosives to seal the deal. He congrats me with my place in the Top 8 and I have never been so grateful to a German (both Tao and steffri666)before (except for my wife, right after an orgasm).
2-0
(5-1 in matches, 10-5 total in games)
And the movie (with only music from Naruto this time):
http://www.icbe.nl/match6.avi
Cool, I’m in the Top 8 again. Since we had been one of the firsts to complete our match, I had to wait a long time to see who my opponent would become. I really didn’t want to face Tao, since both time I’ve played before, he kicked me out of the tournament. The guy is a really good player, and I fear him the most of any other player in the Top 8.
Final standings are online and I look eagerly who will be my next opponent. Damn! It’s Tao.
Now I know Tao has a little thing with Black Survival and I was suspecting him to play it again. I also know he is a master piloting it, so I figured this was going to be my last match.
Top 8 match against Tao with Gbw Survival.
Game 1:
I draw hand full of bombs, but with only 1 land, so I mulligan. My second hand had only a Wasteland as mana, so I needed to mull again. Somehow, I feel it's my fate to never beat this German.
I keep a hand of: Darkblast, Swords to Plowshares, Dark Confidant, Bayou and Scrubland. I lose the die roll again and I see Tao playing a Fetchland.
I draw a Duress and play it after laying down a land. I see a hand full of land, creatures, a Cabal Therapy and a Survival. Seems that I was right about Black Survival. I pick Survival.
After this he Wastelands a land and after I've erased a creature with StP, he erases them all with Extirpate. He starts beating down with some Tarmogoyf and I never get the 3rd land I need for the 2 Vindicates I have in my hand. When I do get it, I can kill one of them, but he picks the other one out of my hand with a Therapy.
That Wasteland really screwed me.
0-1
Game 2:
I side:
-2 Darkblast
-1 Funeral Charm
-1 Orim's Chant
+2 Krosan Grip
+1 Pithing Needle
+1 Duress
I draw the following hand: 2x Land, 2x Duress, Seal of Primordium, Pithing Needle and Mystic Enforcer.
That is a very nice hand against Survival, but I knew that I could get screwed if I faced another Wasteland, just like last game. I decide to take the risk however.
Turn 1 I fetch for a Swamp and Duress him, revealing 2x Wall of Blossoms, Pernicious Deed, Tribe Elder, 2x land and Eternal Witness. I have to take the Deed and I pass the turn.
After he plays a land and passes I play a Dark Confidant. He plays a Wall of Blossoms as a blocker and passes again.
I Duress again, hoping to get something, but he only has land and creatures. Although I'd seen he has an Harmonic Sliver, I decide to play a Seal, and hope he would kill it before he plays a Survival, making way for my Pithing Needle.
He plays another Wall and passes. Since I'm expecting we will get into a resources war eventually, and he has good blocker, I play another Confidant, hoping not to get too damaged. This turns out to work out well, I have gotten maybe 7 damage the rest of the match. I also play a Pithing Needle on survival, hoping to put more pressure on him
A turn later I play a Mystic Enforcer with no threshold, and wait how he'll react. He decides to play the Harmonic, and after some thinking I realize it doesn't really matter if he'll use survival, I just need to finish the job as soon as possible. I use seal to destroy my own needle, putting the number of card in my grave at 5, and StP the Tarmogoyf he plays after his sliver.
At this time I realized I've sided out my Darkblasts, which has been a mistake. Those things just win you games when both players are using Goyfs. Anyway, Confidant gets me a Wasteland, which I use to get rid of any land, reaching me threshold.
I start beating with the Enforcer and there's basically nothing he can do about it. He does play a Survival of the Fittest, but when I waste his only untapped dual, he gives up.
1-1
Game 3:
I do not side anything and take a hand of: 2xGoyf, StP, Deed, E. Explosives and 2x land.
He starts with a turn 1 Therapy, guessing Duress, and grabbing nothing.
I draw a Wasteland and destroy him bayou, hoping to get him manascrewed.
He get's a turn 3 Survival, and I play a Goyf, making sure a flashbacked Therapy won't get 20% of my win conditions.
He only puts a land into play and I play a Deed. I could have also played Explosives, but I felt he could also play bigger creatures. I wanted to have a real reset button. He survivals a little and plays during his turn a Harmonic, molesting Deed. He flashes back Therapy to get Explosives, and I am left with not reset buttons. That sucks.
He plays a Wall and to make sure to get some damage through I cast StP on it. This also grows my Goyf to 5/6 and I start inflicting some serious damage. He does send a Goyf Farming, and I play another one.
He plays a Goyf of own and at this point I realize I forgot to put my Darkblasts back in the deck. My brother was watching, and since I am trying to get him into playing serious legacy, I was so busy explaining what I was doing, I totally forgot about them. My little brother pointed out that mistake actually, so it looks like he is at least learning something.
I decide to go all out now, since I don’t have any real comb tricks in my deck. I play a second Goyf and a Confidant and pray he doesn’t get a Pernicious Deed. He doesn't and I win the game.
2-1
Video:
http://www.icbe.nl/top8.avi
We played this match Sunday, being the first top 8 match to be finished, so I have to wait a little until I can play my next match. I had no idea however it would take Tacosnape and Illusius 4 days to decide who was going to battle me. I can understand how it happened, but I got a little irritated while waiting.
However, me, Adan, Van Phanel and some of my teammates have been spamming the thread with some thrash-talk, killing time. On Tuesday being at work, I see the results of the last top 8 match, and it took them 2 hours and 14 minutes to finish their first game only. That’s long! Anyway, now I finally know who my opponent is:
Top 4 match against Illusius, with Ubg Landstill
I had literally no chance in this match. It was basiclly a slaughterhouse.
I won’t tell to much of the guy’s deck, since he still has to play the finals, but I never had a chance.
Lost 0-2
Props:
Parcher: For again running this tournament. The guy deserves some serious credit for this.
My opponents: For all being cool guys and some for playing at difficult times.
Tarmogoyf: Simply for being the best creature printed in the last couple of years.
MWS: Although unstable as hell; still the best way to play magic online.
IcBE: For the overall support while building the deck and the tournament.
My Job: For allowing me to build this deck at an 18 hour workday.
Anybody who advocated a 6th round: I wouldn’t have top 8ed if you didn’t.
Anybody who played: Thanks for all who made this tournament a success.
Slops:
MWS: Not winning a die roll once!
Magus of the Moon: That guy single-handedly hoses my deck.
Time zones: Playing during holidays makes it bearable, but I sill hate time differences.
ZD screenrecorder: For quitting on me at the start of round 3.