Volt
08-27-2007, 06:15 AM
In the week leading up to this tournament, I decided I needed to find something other than MeatHooks to play. I knew there was probably going to be a lot of Landstill and CounterTop control, which is just a bad scene for my poor little slivers. MeatHooks was designed to beat Goblins. Unfortunately, Goblins are nearly an extinct breed in the Portland/Vancouver metagame. After some thought, I decided I wanted to play Threshold. The only question was white splash or red splash? My first inclination was to go with the red splash, so I sleeved up a Thresh list with Lightning Bolts, Fire/Ice, and Spell Snare, and got to work. I playtested it for a couple of days and took it to our local Friday night Legacy tourney. Although the deck certainly held its own, I became increasingly dissatisfied with Fire/Ice and even Lightning Bolt. Fire/Ice just seemed so weak, and I frequently found myself wishing that Lightning Bolt was StP instead. So, on Saturday, I converted the deck to the white splash. In the process of swapping out burn spells for StPs, I decided I would also try out a maindeck CounterTop configuration. While the maindeck Spell Snares in the Red Thresh build had been pretty decent, I wanted something with more oomph, to help out the Landstill matchup and give me an edge in the mirror. This is what I ended up with:
4 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
3 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Forest
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Mystic Enforcer
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Pithing Needle
4 Brainstorm
4 Portent
4 Predict
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Counterbalance
SB:
3 Armageddon
3 Hydroblast
3 Spell Snare
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Hail Storm
2 Krosan Grip
I invited Don Bruss (AngryTroll) over on Saturday to do some more playtesting. In particular, I really wanted to test the Landstill matchup. Don almost wore out his welcome immediately by getting on my computer while I was in the bathroom and making a series of ridiculous posts at The Source under my account. What a clown. I knew something was up when I came out of the bathroom and he scurried away from my computer with a shit-eating grin on his face. Afer I cussed him out and threatened him with bodily harm, we settled down to play. After a couple of warmup games against his Merfolk deck - with which Don has an unhealthy fascination - he got out his Landstill deck and we got to business. We played 6 games of this, which took the better part of the afternoon. We split 3-3. I was happy. I felt the list was very strong. This is what I was going to play.
Flash forward to Sunday. I made a list minute decision to swap out the Portents for Serum Visions, because SV is marginally better in the mid- and late-game. Other than that, it's the same list as above. The tournament is supposed to start at 1, and I had a couple of people to pick up, so I set out at 11:30. First stop, Don Bruss. Second stop, David Conachan. Then, as we're leaving David's place, Don decided to give Brett (LinkxWing) a call to make sure he's going to show up. The conversation went something like this:
Brett: (with sleep in his voice) Hello?
Don: Hey, Brett. This is Don. You're going to the tournament, right? Do you need a ride?
Brett: <some lame crap about needing to sleep because he was up until 7am>
Don: We can be there in 20 minutes.
Brett: That sounds tempting, but...
Don: We'll be there in 20 minutes. You better be awake, or there will be trouble.
Brett: (resignedly) Goddamit, Don. <click>
So, we made the excursion over to Brett's place. I knocked on Brett's door. A minute later, just as Don was getting riled up and ready to cause trouble, the door opened. Looking like an extra from a zombie movie, Brett shambled out, mumbling incoherently. We herded him into the car, and were on our way. The net result of this is that we were going to be a little late, so we called the shop and begged Mike to delay the tournament until we get there, which he did.
Onto the tournament report...
Round 1 vs Brandon w/Sui-Black
In game 1, Brandon played out a Knight of Stromgald, which I promply neutered with a Pithing Needle. I also got out the Counter/Top combo within the first few turns. I countered a couple of his spells, and eventually beat him down with a goose and a goyf.
In the second game, I got out an early Top, but I got flooded with land. I kept cantripping and spinning the Top, but just couldn't seem to find anything but land land land.
In game 3, I kept an opening hand with Daze, Daze, StP, Top, goyf, and a couple lands. Predictably, I played Top and passed the turn. Brandon duressed me. Rather than costing myself tempo by Dazing it, I said okay and showed him my hand. He thought for a minute and picked one of the Dazes, then passed the turn. I drew a card, laid a land, and played goyf. During his turn, Brandon tried to Terror the goyf, but I Dazed it. From there, it just got worse for Brandon, as the Top enabled me to continually keep good cards in my hand, while Brandon was stuck on 2 lands for a while. I won this game pretty easily.
1-0, 2-1
Round 2 vs. Ron w/The Rock variant
I knew Ron was playing The Rock. He almost always plays The Rock. In game 1, I opened with Pithing Needle naming Pernicious Deed. A couple of turns later, he attempted to Putrefy the Needle, but I Dazed it. In the meantime, I played out a goyf and a couple of gooses. He managed to get rid of the goyf somehow, but my geese beat him down.
In game 2, Ron wasted my only white source and resolved a Bob. Although I got down the Counter/Top combo, I couldn't overcome the Bob advantage.
In the third game, I once again got out an early Needle on Deed. Ron managed to Putrefy it away, but never did draw a Deed. I ran him over with green critters.
2-0, 4-2
Round 3 vs. Justin w/UW CounterTop Control
Justin made it down from Seattle, along with Brian (Maverick676). Apparently, Justin and I are teammates, although we had never met before. We chatted about that for a minute while shuffling. In the first game, Justin resolved an early Counterbalance. I tried to resolve my own on the next turn, but he had the Force. A couple turns later, he played Top. I Forced it. He randomly flipped the top card of his library for Counterbalance. It was a Force. I scooped shortly thereafter.
In the second game, Justin once again resolved an early Counterbalance with double Force of Will backup. However, he nearly depleted his hand in so doing. I was able to work around his Counterbalance by baiting him with unimportant spells to see what was on top of his library, and then playing something else with differenct CMC. Doing this, I got a couple of creatures into play and proceeded with beating him down. He couldn't find enough answers, and I won.
Onto game 3. Jeez, these matches are grueling. Neither of us did much for the first several turns of the game. Finally, I resolved a Counterbalance to go along with a Top. I had 4 lands in play, the relevance of which will become apparent in a minute. I passed the turn. Justin drew his card, dropped land #6, then played Dismantling Blow (http://magiccards.info/in/en/14.html) with kicker! I Dazed it. Justin Forced my Daze, and Dismantling Blow resolved. I put the Counterbalance in my graveyard. Justin passed the turn. I drew my card, put land #4 back into play, and played Armageddon. He had no answer. I had a land in hand and another on top of my library (set up by Top), so I won easily from there.
3-0, 6-3
Round 4 vs Lochlan (Red Thresh)
We ID, since we're both a lock for T8.
Round 5 vs David (Aggro Loam)
ID
Into the top 8...
Round 6 vs Brett (UWgb Landstill)
In the first game, Brett mulled down to 5 while I mulled down to 6. I resolved 2 quick Pithing Needles - one on Deed, the other on EE. This hampered Brett quite a bit. Eventually, I resolved CounterTop as well. I proceeded to play out a couple of beaters, and he couldn't find enough answers and/or resolve them through my CounterTop.
In game 2, we each mulled down to 6. I resolved a turn 1 Top, which is always an amazing play. Brett got stuck on 2 lands for awhile, while I drew plenty of lands. Finally, after Brett played a 3rd land, I resolved a geddon. I was annoyed when Brett immediately topdecked 2 lands and a 3rd one a couple turns later. He then played a Crucible, which I Dazed. A couple turns later, he played another Crucible, which I Gripped on the following turn. In the meantime, I was steadily beating him down with a goyf, which got him down to 2 life. Finally, he got rid of it with Diabolic Edict. I dropped a goose on my next turn, and he had no answer.
Top 4: We all agreed it had been a long day, and decided to split the prizes 4 ways. The other Top 4 decks were RG Aggro-Loam, Elves!, and Sligh.
Props:
Mike Van de Water for holding up the tournament for us.
Counterbalance & Sensei's Divining Top for being ridonculous.
Brett for his impersonation of the living dead.
The super-hot hostess at TGI Friday's, after the tournament.
Slops:
The stupid Ms. Pacman machine at the Batcave for always freezing up when I'm kicking ass. Yeah, that's right. I play Ms. Pacman.
Don Bruss for account thievery. You better watch your back, punk.
Zilla & Frogboy for not showing up. You fuckers better have been out feeding the homeless or something.
Bardo. That skinny, drunk bastard ate half my fries.
4 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
3 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Forest
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Mystic Enforcer
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Pithing Needle
4 Brainstorm
4 Portent
4 Predict
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Counterbalance
SB:
3 Armageddon
3 Hydroblast
3 Spell Snare
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Hail Storm
2 Krosan Grip
I invited Don Bruss (AngryTroll) over on Saturday to do some more playtesting. In particular, I really wanted to test the Landstill matchup. Don almost wore out his welcome immediately by getting on my computer while I was in the bathroom and making a series of ridiculous posts at The Source under my account. What a clown. I knew something was up when I came out of the bathroom and he scurried away from my computer with a shit-eating grin on his face. Afer I cussed him out and threatened him with bodily harm, we settled down to play. After a couple of warmup games against his Merfolk deck - with which Don has an unhealthy fascination - he got out his Landstill deck and we got to business. We played 6 games of this, which took the better part of the afternoon. We split 3-3. I was happy. I felt the list was very strong. This is what I was going to play.
Flash forward to Sunday. I made a list minute decision to swap out the Portents for Serum Visions, because SV is marginally better in the mid- and late-game. Other than that, it's the same list as above. The tournament is supposed to start at 1, and I had a couple of people to pick up, so I set out at 11:30. First stop, Don Bruss. Second stop, David Conachan. Then, as we're leaving David's place, Don decided to give Brett (LinkxWing) a call to make sure he's going to show up. The conversation went something like this:
Brett: (with sleep in his voice) Hello?
Don: Hey, Brett. This is Don. You're going to the tournament, right? Do you need a ride?
Brett: <some lame crap about needing to sleep because he was up until 7am>
Don: We can be there in 20 minutes.
Brett: That sounds tempting, but...
Don: We'll be there in 20 minutes. You better be awake, or there will be trouble.
Brett: (resignedly) Goddamit, Don. <click>
So, we made the excursion over to Brett's place. I knocked on Brett's door. A minute later, just as Don was getting riled up and ready to cause trouble, the door opened. Looking like an extra from a zombie movie, Brett shambled out, mumbling incoherently. We herded him into the car, and were on our way. The net result of this is that we were going to be a little late, so we called the shop and begged Mike to delay the tournament until we get there, which he did.
Onto the tournament report...
Round 1 vs Brandon w/Sui-Black
In game 1, Brandon played out a Knight of Stromgald, which I promply neutered with a Pithing Needle. I also got out the Counter/Top combo within the first few turns. I countered a couple of his spells, and eventually beat him down with a goose and a goyf.
In the second game, I got out an early Top, but I got flooded with land. I kept cantripping and spinning the Top, but just couldn't seem to find anything but land land land.
In game 3, I kept an opening hand with Daze, Daze, StP, Top, goyf, and a couple lands. Predictably, I played Top and passed the turn. Brandon duressed me. Rather than costing myself tempo by Dazing it, I said okay and showed him my hand. He thought for a minute and picked one of the Dazes, then passed the turn. I drew a card, laid a land, and played goyf. During his turn, Brandon tried to Terror the goyf, but I Dazed it. From there, it just got worse for Brandon, as the Top enabled me to continually keep good cards in my hand, while Brandon was stuck on 2 lands for a while. I won this game pretty easily.
1-0, 2-1
Round 2 vs. Ron w/The Rock variant
I knew Ron was playing The Rock. He almost always plays The Rock. In game 1, I opened with Pithing Needle naming Pernicious Deed. A couple of turns later, he attempted to Putrefy the Needle, but I Dazed it. In the meantime, I played out a goyf and a couple of gooses. He managed to get rid of the goyf somehow, but my geese beat him down.
In game 2, Ron wasted my only white source and resolved a Bob. Although I got down the Counter/Top combo, I couldn't overcome the Bob advantage.
In the third game, I once again got out an early Needle on Deed. Ron managed to Putrefy it away, but never did draw a Deed. I ran him over with green critters.
2-0, 4-2
Round 3 vs. Justin w/UW CounterTop Control
Justin made it down from Seattle, along with Brian (Maverick676). Apparently, Justin and I are teammates, although we had never met before. We chatted about that for a minute while shuffling. In the first game, Justin resolved an early Counterbalance. I tried to resolve my own on the next turn, but he had the Force. A couple turns later, he played Top. I Forced it. He randomly flipped the top card of his library for Counterbalance. It was a Force. I scooped shortly thereafter.
In the second game, Justin once again resolved an early Counterbalance with double Force of Will backup. However, he nearly depleted his hand in so doing. I was able to work around his Counterbalance by baiting him with unimportant spells to see what was on top of his library, and then playing something else with differenct CMC. Doing this, I got a couple of creatures into play and proceeded with beating him down. He couldn't find enough answers, and I won.
Onto game 3. Jeez, these matches are grueling. Neither of us did much for the first several turns of the game. Finally, I resolved a Counterbalance to go along with a Top. I had 4 lands in play, the relevance of which will become apparent in a minute. I passed the turn. Justin drew his card, dropped land #6, then played Dismantling Blow (http://magiccards.info/in/en/14.html) with kicker! I Dazed it. Justin Forced my Daze, and Dismantling Blow resolved. I put the Counterbalance in my graveyard. Justin passed the turn. I drew my card, put land #4 back into play, and played Armageddon. He had no answer. I had a land in hand and another on top of my library (set up by Top), so I won easily from there.
3-0, 6-3
Round 4 vs Lochlan (Red Thresh)
We ID, since we're both a lock for T8.
Round 5 vs David (Aggro Loam)
ID
Into the top 8...
Round 6 vs Brett (UWgb Landstill)
In the first game, Brett mulled down to 5 while I mulled down to 6. I resolved 2 quick Pithing Needles - one on Deed, the other on EE. This hampered Brett quite a bit. Eventually, I resolved CounterTop as well. I proceeded to play out a couple of beaters, and he couldn't find enough answers and/or resolve them through my CounterTop.
In game 2, we each mulled down to 6. I resolved a turn 1 Top, which is always an amazing play. Brett got stuck on 2 lands for awhile, while I drew plenty of lands. Finally, after Brett played a 3rd land, I resolved a geddon. I was annoyed when Brett immediately topdecked 2 lands and a 3rd one a couple turns later. He then played a Crucible, which I Dazed. A couple turns later, he played another Crucible, which I Gripped on the following turn. In the meantime, I was steadily beating him down with a goyf, which got him down to 2 life. Finally, he got rid of it with Diabolic Edict. I dropped a goose on my next turn, and he had no answer.
Top 4: We all agreed it had been a long day, and decided to split the prizes 4 ways. The other Top 4 decks were RG Aggro-Loam, Elves!, and Sligh.
Props:
Mike Van de Water for holding up the tournament for us.
Counterbalance & Sensei's Divining Top for being ridonculous.
Brett for his impersonation of the living dead.
The super-hot hostess at TGI Friday's, after the tournament.
Slops:
The stupid Ms. Pacman machine at the Batcave for always freezing up when I'm kicking ass. Yeah, that's right. I play Ms. Pacman.
Don Bruss for account thievery. You better watch your back, punk.
Zilla & Frogboy for not showing up. You fuckers better have been out feeding the homeless or something.
Bardo. That skinny, drunk bastard ate half my fries.