Silverdragon
11-10-2007, 06:10 PM
This is a report of how I finished 1st in a 5 round tournament at Herxheim, Germany.
Warning! The following report contains a really bad decklist and severe misplays. Do not try this at home or basically anywhere. You have been warned!
The monthly Legacy tourney in Herxheim was approaching and because of Gaddock Teeg and the awesomeness that is Tarmogoyf I didn't want to play my trademark white Stax deck. I agonized a long time about what else I could play that fit my playstyle and could be built with the cardpool I had available. Staying up until 4am the day of the tournament I finally settled on simply playing a bunch of good (looking) cards I hadn't played in a while and just have some fun. I figured that if I lost I could blame the deck or WotC for printing Tarmogoyf and Gaddock.
So after the part of trying to explain my deckchoice here it is the one and only
Haufen.dec
4 Goblin Welder (signed)
4 Smokestack (Schornstein)
4 Crucible of Worlds (Schmelztiegel der Welten)
4 Trinisphere (Trinisphäre)
4 Chalice of the Void (Kelch der Leere)
4 Mox Diamond (Diamantmox)
2 Mindless Automaton (Hirnlose Kampfmaschine)
1 Pentavus (german name is the same, boo!)
1 Aether Spellbomb (not so pimp)
1 Karn, Silver Golem (Karn, der Silbergolem)
1 Solemn Simulacrum (Erhabenes Scheinbild)
2 Engineered Explosives (1x chinese (?))
3 Powder Keg
5 Mountain (unhinged (1 foil))
1 Island
1 Academy Ruins (Ruinen der Akademie)
3 Wasteland
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Ancient Tomb (Grab der Ahnen)
3 City of Traitors (Stadt der Verräter)
4 Mishra's Factory (3x Mishras Fabrik, 1x Usine de Mishra)
3 Volcanic Island (most unpimp cards in the whole deck, well aside from sideboard)
SB
3 Silent Arbiter
3 Pithing Needle
2 Decree of Annihilation
1 Wasteland
1 Blood Moon
1 Razormane Masticore
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Platinum Angel (!)
1 Urza's Factory (!!)
1 Form of the Dragon (!!!)
Yes that is a Form of the Dragon in the Sideboard and yes I'm trying to kill my opponents with Mindless Automatons.
At first Aether Spellbomb was included solely because it can bounce Tarmogoyf (of course it has other uses like saving Welder). The Automatons aren't that bad really because they can help you discard expensive artifacts and weld them in even with Gaddock or Meddling Mage in play. Decree of Annihilation was supposed to be my secret tech against Landstill because the cycling ignores Standstill, Gaddock (again that guy), Medling Mage and conventional counterspells.
I'd say about half the deck is just me throwing in good, funny, neat and/or stupid cards. Btw there were only 3 cards in my sideboard that I didn't board in during the tourney. 2 were the Decrees because I didn't face Landstill a single time. Interestingly the third card was Urza's Factory although I considered it in 2 of my matches to up the land count but I couldn't decide what to cut in time.
Just one more thing here: Apparently having lots of 1-of's in a deck with almost no carddraw reduces the chance of seeing specific 1-of's during a match (that will come in handy later). XD
After counting all the participants and getting additional tables and chairs 17 people sit down to play 5 rounds of Magic. Of course as you all know with 17 people there has to be one person without an opponent. It turns out that for round 1 I am that person. Maybe being able to transform into a huge Dragon after sideboarding scares off potential opponents...
Round 1 versus Bye
I could now go on and tell you how I went to get some food or tried to get some much needed sleep but I'd be lying. Instead of doing one or even both of those things I decided to cover the match of my friend Joachim playing Angelstax versus Stefan Benisch (known in the german Legacy community for writing articles) playing his trademark Survival. Those who just want to read about me sucking at Magic can scroll down to Round 2. For everyone else here's my attempt at a match coverage.
Joachim wins the die roll and decides to go first. He leads with Mishra's Factory to Stefan's Windswept Heath. During his second turn he makes a strong play with Wasteland plus Mox Diamond into Crucible of Worlds. Stefan doesn't care as he adds a Forest to his board, fetches for a basic Plains and calmly lays down Tarmogoyf.
Joachim checks the size of the Goyf before playing a Magus of the Tabernacle that looks like a good answer to the 1/2 Goyf. However Stefan can top that with a Swords to Plowshares removing Magus followed by attacking and playing a Sensei's Divining Top post combat.
Top turned out to be critical during that game as it provided Stefan with all the answers he needed in time. After a Chalice at 2 Joachim gets a second Magus that is quickly dispatched by Stefan's evoked Shriekmaw. The Factory Joachim played turn 1 is rendered almost useless by Witness returning Swords to Plowshares to Stefan's hand.
For several turns Tarmogoyf bashes in reducing Joachim's life to 3 and finally even a Ghostly Prison plus Trinisphere can't stop the huge Goyf because Stefan has the mana to pay for Prison and cast the Swords to Plowshares to remove Factory before it can chumpblock. Top helped Stefan to get all the basic lands in his deck into play and made Wasteland plus Crucible look a lot less scary.
For game 2 Joachim boarded out Trinispheres and Chalices to bring in Oblivion Rings and Suppression Fields. Stefan boarded in more artifact removal in the form of Harmonic Sliver, Kataki and some Krosan Grips. Sadly he didn't tell me what he boarded out but I can safely assume it was no land or Tarmogoyf ;)
Game 2 can only be described as a slaughter. Both players mulligan to six and Joachim, going first again, goes Plains, pass. Stefan has a better start with Bayou and Birds of Paradise. In his second turn Joachim shows one of the reasons why he kept the hand playing Suppression Field, hoping to stop any forthcoming Survival and Top nonsense. His hopes are quickly bashed when Stefan plays Harmonic Sliver destroying the enchantment.
Unfazed Joachim plays a second Suppression Field but unfortunately no third land. While being stuck on 2 lands for the next 3 turns, Grip into Goyf and Survival for Stefan pretty much decides the game. Joachim still manages to remove Survival and Goyf with Oblivion Rings before he dies but one turn of abusing Survival is enough for Stefan to build an unsurmountable advantage. In the end it is Kataki plus Tarmogoyf who deliver the killing blow.
After featuring this match I wander around and see the following situation:
We are right before the start of extraturns (next turn will be extraturn number 1). The matchup is Lands! (that 43-land deck) versus some homebrew Fairies and Wizards deck (I'll just call it Blue Skies). Both boards are really clogged up with creatures and lands. Among other random Wizards the Blue Skies player has a Teferi so he can cast creatures at instant speed. It is the Lands player's turn. After he passes priority the Blue Skies player taps 4 mana and casts eot (wait for it) Eater of Days! So the lands player gets extraturns 1,2 and 4 instead of just 2 and 4. Sadly the plan of the Blue Skies player didn't work out as the lands player ended his last turn with exactly 0 cards in his library so it was a draw.
Round 2 versus Lukas playing Gbw Survival
Now we are talking. Before the tournament started I was joking around that my deck can't lose against Landstill but folds against any deck playing a creature first turn. His deck is rather control oriented so he won't play lots of creaures early but if there's one deck I never want to get paired against it's this one. His list is filled to the brim with Pernicious Deeds and Tarmogoyfs and generally everything that utterly destroys me.
At least I win the die roll and go first.
Game 1 was maybe the most ridiculous game I played all day. I start with Volcanic Island and play a Goblin Welder. Lukas wastes no time fetching Savannah and Swording it. Speaking of wasting, my second turn I just waste his Savannah and pass. During Lukas' second turn he fetches for a Bayou and plays Cabal Therapy. I say 'sure' and he starts thinking about what to name. As I made it quite clear that I brought the most random pile ever he has a really hard time finding a card that can wreck him and that could also be in my hand. I jokingly suggest naming Armageddon because he won't hit anything anyway but in the end he decides on Chalice of the Void.
Now imagine a guy standing on top of a Mountain. Further imagine that guy being hit by a truck on top of said Mountain. Finally imagine that guy's face when he tries to find an explanation why that truck hit him even though he was standing on top of a friggin' mountain. That might give you an impression of the WTF expression Lukas had after seeing my hand. For reference the hand was 2x Ancient Tomb,2x Wasteland, Mishra's Factory, City of Traitors.
Lukas later told me that his hand at this point contained among other cards Birds, Wall of Blossoms and Tarmogoyf. Had he fetched for a basic land and played Bird at the beginning he'd be in good shape. Now it was my turn again, I wasted his Bayou and he didn't draw another land before I resolved a Smokestack and pumped it to one counter. Factories made short work of him.
Sideboard: -3 Trinisphere, -4 Chalice, -2 Powder Keg, -1 Pentavus; +3 Silent Arbiter, +3 Pithing Needle, + Form of the Dragon, + Tormod's Crypt, + Platinum Angel
Game 2 he started with Sensei's Divining Top and I started making mistakes. I mean how am I supposed to play seriously when I'm up one game against my worst matchp with probably the worst deck I ever played? My opening hand has Ancient Tomb, double Pithing Needle, Mountain and Goblin Welder plus two cards I can't remember right now. Of course I go Ancient Tomb, Needle -waiting for it to resolve- and when he does nothing I name Sensei's Divining Top. I follow that up with the second Needle naming Pernicious Deed. At that moment naming Top with the first Needle looked like the correct play because I remembered how good Top was against Joachim in round 1. Knowing how the match went I'd now name Pernicious Deed with both Needles because the Welder I was holding would have ensured that Lukas needs three artifact removals before he can activate a Deed.
For several turns now both of us build up a board and try to get the upper hand. A Spike Feeder from Lukas is met with a Mishra's Factory on my side. Even though I get Crucible I can't attack because Lukas has a Wall of Blossoms to hold the fort. After about four more turns of playing lands, small critters and mostly irrelevant artifacts Lukas puts a Pernicious Deed into play. He follows that up with a Harmonic Sliver next turn targetting my Needle naming Deed. I can do nothing but watch as the Needle is destroyed and Deed gets activated for one destroying my other Needle, my Goblin Welder and his Top.
Had I named Deed with both Needles not only would Lukas need to destroy them both but I could have welded the first back in before the second one got destroyed so he'd have to use either Extirpate or Swords on Welder in addition to the artifact removal. Krosan Grip would've worked too but he'd have to pay six mana just to be able to activate his Deed and he'd have to activate it the same turn because I'd be free to weld a Needle back in during my turn. Alas I made a mistake so all that didn't matter.
With the board now a little emptier we both start to rebuild. Lukas is first to add another Sensei's Divining Top to the table and start improving his draws. I have a Silent Arbiter to stop any beatdown in the near future and a topdecked Welder brings back both Pithing Needles this time naming Deed and Survival. In between Welder activations Lukas resolves the first Survival of the match and goes for Genesis and Sakura Tribe Elder before Needle shuts off the Enchantment. With Genesis in the graveyard and Sakura Tribe Elder or Spike Feeder as juicy targets I figure that I'll lose the lategame so I have to try and kill him somehow before he overwhelms me. Platinum Angel comes down just in time to fly over his freshly summoned Gaddock Teeg and Tarmogoyf while providing some additional safety. So with a Platinum Angel in play and two Goblin Welders by now what can go wrong? Everything of course.
First Lukas attacks with a 4/5 Tarmogoyf and I sense Extirpate so instead of chumpblocking with my Mishra's Factory I block with my 1/5 Silent Arbiter. Lukas just quietly moves one of his Spike Feeder counters onto the Goyf and kills my Arbiter, then as predicted Extirpates all Arbiters.
Right now my only hope is to either draw Tormod's Crypt, removing his Genesis so my Angel can kill him (remember he had recurring Spike Feeder) or draw Form of the Dragon to race him.
I make one final mistake when I use Aether Spellbomb to bounce his Gaddock Teeg and play a Smokestack effectively allowing him to get reccuring Harmonic Sliver or Eternal Witness when I ramp it to 1 but it doesn't matter as Lukas just attacks with a bunch of gigantic guys bringing me to negative life and then uses Krosan Grip on my Angel so I lose.
We are informed there's only one minute left in the round so we decide to draw the match.
I'm sure with less misplays I could've survived through extraturns and won but right now a draw against my worst matchup and a really good player on top of that is fine with me.
Another story I want to tell you is about Solidarity. I was watching my cousin (playing 4c Landstill) and his opponent (Solidarity) goes for the combo. After several High Tides and Resets the Solidarity player has almost emptied his hand except for three cards. One of them is a Stroke of Genius that he wished for earlier. So with a really big Stormcount and lots of mana in his pool the Solidarity player goes Stroke you for a lot, response Brain Freeze, Brain Freeze. My cousin taps an Island for 4 mana and casts Stifle, Stifle, Counterspell. How sick is that? XD
Round 3 versus Tristan playing Stupid Red Burn
I didn't know him and I had no idea what he was playing. Turns out that he is a really nice guy with another deck I normally can't beat.
I also lose the die roll so I mentally prepare to drop after this round and cover some more matches.
Game 1 my opponent leads with Mountain and Mogg Fanatic. I put him on Sligh or Burn and decide to try surviving until I can find Chalice or Trinisphere. This means my first turn play is Goblin Welder. I'm hoping that I can trade with the Fanatic or at least make him use a burnspell for something else than my face. When Tristan only attacks and throws the Fanatic at my face after damage without playing any more spells that turn I'm really happy inside. Sadly during my turn I can only play another basic land and Powder Keg. End of turn a Magma Jet meets my face and Tristan sets up his next turn with the scry. I can't believe that he only plays another Fanatic and passes back to me again. However I still don't draw any cards that are good against him so I have to settle with another land into Crucible as my only play. Tristan attacks again and when I pop Keg the Fanatic gets thrown at my face as predicted. No more plays again make me think about how lucky I really am. I play another Welder hoping to distract my opponent once more and eot another Magma Jet gets thrown at me. Tristan is now desperately searching for business it seems. With not much business to be found I just have to endure the burning of a single Lava Spike before it's my turn again. I find a Smokestack that might be able to manascrew him and Tristan clearly concerned about the Welder now throws his third Magma Jet at the Goblin. Another turn of doing nothing threatening by him is met by me finally drawing Trinisphere which in conjunction with Smokestack (now ramped to 1 counter) and Crucible earns the concession from Tristan.
For sideboarding I only change a Pentavus for big Plats and try to find room for 2 additional lands but end up cutting only a Powder Keg for Wasteland. In retrospect I should have cut another Keg for Urza's Factory giving this block constructed staple some Legacy maindeck time.
Game 2 I want to aggressively muligan into Chalice or Trinisphere but I don't have to as a Chalice greets me in my opening seven. Tristan starts this game off with a Lava Spike to the dome and I, having only lands that produce 1 mana, go for turn 1 Welder again. Playing Mountain, pass I can see another eot Jet coming from Tristan. Anyway I put down my Chalice at one hoping it will buy me enough time to hardlock him. Of course Magma Jet comes my way and during his turn Tristan goes for Browbeat. With Chalice in play I let him draw the cards hoping he can't play any of them. My third turn I find a City of Traitors and play Smokestack hoping again to manascrew him. His answer to my plan is simply playing more lands and throwing more burn at my face it seems when he lays down Mountain number 4 and hits me with a Flames of the Bood Hand. I continue assembling the lock by ramping Smokestack to 1 and playing Crucible during my next turn. However it looks like Tristan has found exactly the right card to foil my plans. I take a deep breath when I see him play Ankh of Mishra. Luckily I can resolve and activate an Explosives for 2 before taking too much damage. Tristan can only get me down to 7 life and then loses his last Mountain putting him into the hardlock of Crucible plus Smokestack plus Chalice at 1. He concedes before Welder can finish him.
At this point I can't stop running around, showing everybody my deck and telling them I'm 2-0-1 so far. I'm playing really bad with probably the worst deck ever and somehow I'm winning. It was just ridiculous.
Round 4 versus Daniel (Adan on The Source) with Threshold
Daniel is a really (and I mean really) good player. The only thing keeping him from doing better is his own bad luck. This time it was no different.
Game 1 going first Daniel only drops a land and passes the turn. I draw a card and start doing broken stuff. Namely dropping Ancient Tomb, Mox, Goblin Welder and Chalice for 1. Everything resolves and I decide to write a big fat BAM right next to my notes. Daniel suggests to add a big LOL next to it. I oblige. For several turns I'm beating down with Welder and Daniel desperately tries to find a creature plus mana to cast it but his bad luck is right there when he plays Predict and mills a Mystic Enforcer. Even worse I add a Powder Keg to the table and ramp it up to two counters to destroy any Tarmogoyfs he might draw. And when you think it can't get any worse I'm making another bad play that lets me win that game.
The situation is as follows: I have Welder and Solemn Simulacrum beating down, Powder Keg set at two and Engineered Explosives in hand. So what does a good player do? He certainly does not play Explosives for 2 AND ramp Powder Keg up to four hoping to defend against Goyfs and the last Enforcer in Daniels deck. Of course I do ramp up the Keg to 4 and play Explosives for 2 but as it turns out Daniel does indeed have the fourth mana plus the last Mystic Enforcer right after Keg hits four counters. So now he needs to first draw a Tarmogoyf making me blow Explosives and destroy my Keg then play Mystic Enforcer. Lucky for me he does not draw a Goyf before Welder and Simulacrum kill him.
Sideboarding: -Solemn Simulacrum, -Pentavus, -Karn, -Aether Spellbomb, -Mindless Automaton; +Blood Moon, +Tormod's Crypt, +Wasteland, +Razormane Masticore, +1 card I can't remember (I think it was Form of the Dragon)
Game 2 involved more being lucking on my side and having bad luck on his side. Daniel again goes first, this time dropping a Needle naming Wasteland. Just like last game I go Ancient Tomb, Mox but this time not having Welder I only play Chalice for 1 which promptly gets forced. A second land comes down for Daniel and I think he also played a cantrip. It didn't matter much as I play a Trinisphere that does not get countered and he only finds a third land when it is too late. The hardlock makes him concede before Welder can go all the way.
Holy cow! I'm first place and will be guaranteed to make top 8! What will all the people think when they see this list on the internet?
Seriously Herxheim has come a long way from events with only 8 people playing their petdecks to a real Legacy metagame. This can in part be attributed to the locals getting better but another big part comes from all the cool people coming from Speyer and Karlsruhe showing us what they are capable of. Big props to all of you guys.
Because two people had to leave early and dropped, the number of players went down from 17 to 15 and we had a brief discussion about playing only 4 rounds instead of 5. Most people wanted 4 rounds so they could go home earlier but there was also the request to play the announced 5 rounds so Stefan (the tournament organizer) decided to play 5 rounds but reminded everybody of their option to just drop.
Round 5 versus Stefan (not the tournament organizer ;) ) with 5c Zoo
Finally I get to play against one of the many Stefans. (There always seem to be at least 3 people named Stefan at those tournaments.) Initially I mistake him for his brother who is playing Scepter Chant today.
I win the die roll and decide to go first.
Game 1 not really knowing what he's playing I lead with Ancient Tomb into Powder Keg. For a short moment I'm confused when he fetches for a Taiga but then I remember that it is Tobias who is playing Scepters, not Stefan. That concerns me a bit because I know Stefan is playing Aggro most of the time and we all know how bad my deck should lose to Aggro.
Anyway after that confusing issue is solved Stefan passes back to me keeping his mana open. I then make a slight mistake that again does not cost me the game when I use a Mountain plus the Ancient Tomb to play Crucible. Instead I should have used the Ghost Quarter I was holding to either destroy his land immediately or to play the Crucible and destroy both his lands next turn.
Again it didn't matter much as Stefan only bolts me eot and uses a Savannah during his turn to play Boros Swiftblade. I draw and topdeck Wasteland which is used to destroy his Taiga. His Swiftblade gets taken care of by Powder Keg and when he does not play a third land after attacking I use the Wasteland again during my turn to leave him permanentless. The concession follows one or two turns later.
Sideboarding: -2 Mindless Automaton, -1 Goblin Welder, -1 Pentavus, -1 Karn; +3 Silent Arbiter, +1 Razormane Masticore, +1 Wasteland
At first I want to board Blood Moon too but I'm not sure how much burn and red creatures he plays so I decide to try it for game 3 should it come to that.
Game 2 is over almost as quick as game 1 so I didn't take much notes. Stefan begins with Taiga plus Kird Ape and I answer with Tomb plus Chalice at 1. The Ape and a Boros Swiftblade take me down to 10 life before Smokestack and Wasteland clear his board again and a Crucible means hardlock. We shake hands and I'm officially a tournament winner.
Two days later now and I still can't believe I actually won. It's a strange feeling writing this report, trying to remember what happened and finding so much where I can still improve.
I suggest that everybody who wants to improve should sit down after a tournament and write a report. It does not have to be published (although I like reading any report I can find) but it can really help you get better by finding potential misplays or even just great plays you want to repeat when you encounter a situation again.
Thanks for reading.
Oh before I forget it the obligatory props and slops:
Props:
Stefan Z. for organizing another event
My cousin Jens for lending me Pithing Needles and a third Volcanic Island
DCI Reporter for awarding me one Bye
Stax in all its shapes and forms for never letting me down (right now it's getting me a beer)
Prices for being awarded to top 5 players
Slops
Stefan B. for dropping after round 3. Girlfriend > Magic my ass ;)
Stefan C. for not showing up again. Afraid of ruining your rating? :P
Prizes for not containing a Dual this time. Finally I'm winning and all I get is Boosters?
McDonalds for renovating and making us sit on those benches and tables for beer tents.
Warning! The following report contains a really bad decklist and severe misplays. Do not try this at home or basically anywhere. You have been warned!
The monthly Legacy tourney in Herxheim was approaching and because of Gaddock Teeg and the awesomeness that is Tarmogoyf I didn't want to play my trademark white Stax deck. I agonized a long time about what else I could play that fit my playstyle and could be built with the cardpool I had available. Staying up until 4am the day of the tournament I finally settled on simply playing a bunch of good (looking) cards I hadn't played in a while and just have some fun. I figured that if I lost I could blame the deck or WotC for printing Tarmogoyf and Gaddock.
So after the part of trying to explain my deckchoice here it is the one and only
Haufen.dec
4 Goblin Welder (signed)
4 Smokestack (Schornstein)
4 Crucible of Worlds (Schmelztiegel der Welten)
4 Trinisphere (Trinisphäre)
4 Chalice of the Void (Kelch der Leere)
4 Mox Diamond (Diamantmox)
2 Mindless Automaton (Hirnlose Kampfmaschine)
1 Pentavus (german name is the same, boo!)
1 Aether Spellbomb (not so pimp)
1 Karn, Silver Golem (Karn, der Silbergolem)
1 Solemn Simulacrum (Erhabenes Scheinbild)
2 Engineered Explosives (1x chinese (?))
3 Powder Keg
5 Mountain (unhinged (1 foil))
1 Island
1 Academy Ruins (Ruinen der Akademie)
3 Wasteland
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Ancient Tomb (Grab der Ahnen)
3 City of Traitors (Stadt der Verräter)
4 Mishra's Factory (3x Mishras Fabrik, 1x Usine de Mishra)
3 Volcanic Island (most unpimp cards in the whole deck, well aside from sideboard)
SB
3 Silent Arbiter
3 Pithing Needle
2 Decree of Annihilation
1 Wasteland
1 Blood Moon
1 Razormane Masticore
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Platinum Angel (!)
1 Urza's Factory (!!)
1 Form of the Dragon (!!!)
Yes that is a Form of the Dragon in the Sideboard and yes I'm trying to kill my opponents with Mindless Automatons.
At first Aether Spellbomb was included solely because it can bounce Tarmogoyf (of course it has other uses like saving Welder). The Automatons aren't that bad really because they can help you discard expensive artifacts and weld them in even with Gaddock or Meddling Mage in play. Decree of Annihilation was supposed to be my secret tech against Landstill because the cycling ignores Standstill, Gaddock (again that guy), Medling Mage and conventional counterspells.
I'd say about half the deck is just me throwing in good, funny, neat and/or stupid cards. Btw there were only 3 cards in my sideboard that I didn't board in during the tourney. 2 were the Decrees because I didn't face Landstill a single time. Interestingly the third card was Urza's Factory although I considered it in 2 of my matches to up the land count but I couldn't decide what to cut in time.
Just one more thing here: Apparently having lots of 1-of's in a deck with almost no carddraw reduces the chance of seeing specific 1-of's during a match (that will come in handy later). XD
After counting all the participants and getting additional tables and chairs 17 people sit down to play 5 rounds of Magic. Of course as you all know with 17 people there has to be one person without an opponent. It turns out that for round 1 I am that person. Maybe being able to transform into a huge Dragon after sideboarding scares off potential opponents...
Round 1 versus Bye
I could now go on and tell you how I went to get some food or tried to get some much needed sleep but I'd be lying. Instead of doing one or even both of those things I decided to cover the match of my friend Joachim playing Angelstax versus Stefan Benisch (known in the german Legacy community for writing articles) playing his trademark Survival. Those who just want to read about me sucking at Magic can scroll down to Round 2. For everyone else here's my attempt at a match coverage.
Joachim wins the die roll and decides to go first. He leads with Mishra's Factory to Stefan's Windswept Heath. During his second turn he makes a strong play with Wasteland plus Mox Diamond into Crucible of Worlds. Stefan doesn't care as he adds a Forest to his board, fetches for a basic Plains and calmly lays down Tarmogoyf.
Joachim checks the size of the Goyf before playing a Magus of the Tabernacle that looks like a good answer to the 1/2 Goyf. However Stefan can top that with a Swords to Plowshares removing Magus followed by attacking and playing a Sensei's Divining Top post combat.
Top turned out to be critical during that game as it provided Stefan with all the answers he needed in time. After a Chalice at 2 Joachim gets a second Magus that is quickly dispatched by Stefan's evoked Shriekmaw. The Factory Joachim played turn 1 is rendered almost useless by Witness returning Swords to Plowshares to Stefan's hand.
For several turns Tarmogoyf bashes in reducing Joachim's life to 3 and finally even a Ghostly Prison plus Trinisphere can't stop the huge Goyf because Stefan has the mana to pay for Prison and cast the Swords to Plowshares to remove Factory before it can chumpblock. Top helped Stefan to get all the basic lands in his deck into play and made Wasteland plus Crucible look a lot less scary.
For game 2 Joachim boarded out Trinispheres and Chalices to bring in Oblivion Rings and Suppression Fields. Stefan boarded in more artifact removal in the form of Harmonic Sliver, Kataki and some Krosan Grips. Sadly he didn't tell me what he boarded out but I can safely assume it was no land or Tarmogoyf ;)
Game 2 can only be described as a slaughter. Both players mulligan to six and Joachim, going first again, goes Plains, pass. Stefan has a better start with Bayou and Birds of Paradise. In his second turn Joachim shows one of the reasons why he kept the hand playing Suppression Field, hoping to stop any forthcoming Survival and Top nonsense. His hopes are quickly bashed when Stefan plays Harmonic Sliver destroying the enchantment.
Unfazed Joachim plays a second Suppression Field but unfortunately no third land. While being stuck on 2 lands for the next 3 turns, Grip into Goyf and Survival for Stefan pretty much decides the game. Joachim still manages to remove Survival and Goyf with Oblivion Rings before he dies but one turn of abusing Survival is enough for Stefan to build an unsurmountable advantage. In the end it is Kataki plus Tarmogoyf who deliver the killing blow.
After featuring this match I wander around and see the following situation:
We are right before the start of extraturns (next turn will be extraturn number 1). The matchup is Lands! (that 43-land deck) versus some homebrew Fairies and Wizards deck (I'll just call it Blue Skies). Both boards are really clogged up with creatures and lands. Among other random Wizards the Blue Skies player has a Teferi so he can cast creatures at instant speed. It is the Lands player's turn. After he passes priority the Blue Skies player taps 4 mana and casts eot (wait for it) Eater of Days! So the lands player gets extraturns 1,2 and 4 instead of just 2 and 4. Sadly the plan of the Blue Skies player didn't work out as the lands player ended his last turn with exactly 0 cards in his library so it was a draw.
Round 2 versus Lukas playing Gbw Survival
Now we are talking. Before the tournament started I was joking around that my deck can't lose against Landstill but folds against any deck playing a creature first turn. His deck is rather control oriented so he won't play lots of creaures early but if there's one deck I never want to get paired against it's this one. His list is filled to the brim with Pernicious Deeds and Tarmogoyfs and generally everything that utterly destroys me.
At least I win the die roll and go first.
Game 1 was maybe the most ridiculous game I played all day. I start with Volcanic Island and play a Goblin Welder. Lukas wastes no time fetching Savannah and Swording it. Speaking of wasting, my second turn I just waste his Savannah and pass. During Lukas' second turn he fetches for a Bayou and plays Cabal Therapy. I say 'sure' and he starts thinking about what to name. As I made it quite clear that I brought the most random pile ever he has a really hard time finding a card that can wreck him and that could also be in my hand. I jokingly suggest naming Armageddon because he won't hit anything anyway but in the end he decides on Chalice of the Void.
Now imagine a guy standing on top of a Mountain. Further imagine that guy being hit by a truck on top of said Mountain. Finally imagine that guy's face when he tries to find an explanation why that truck hit him even though he was standing on top of a friggin' mountain. That might give you an impression of the WTF expression Lukas had after seeing my hand. For reference the hand was 2x Ancient Tomb,2x Wasteland, Mishra's Factory, City of Traitors.
Lukas later told me that his hand at this point contained among other cards Birds, Wall of Blossoms and Tarmogoyf. Had he fetched for a basic land and played Bird at the beginning he'd be in good shape. Now it was my turn again, I wasted his Bayou and he didn't draw another land before I resolved a Smokestack and pumped it to one counter. Factories made short work of him.
Sideboard: -3 Trinisphere, -4 Chalice, -2 Powder Keg, -1 Pentavus; +3 Silent Arbiter, +3 Pithing Needle, + Form of the Dragon, + Tormod's Crypt, + Platinum Angel
Game 2 he started with Sensei's Divining Top and I started making mistakes. I mean how am I supposed to play seriously when I'm up one game against my worst matchp with probably the worst deck I ever played? My opening hand has Ancient Tomb, double Pithing Needle, Mountain and Goblin Welder plus two cards I can't remember right now. Of course I go Ancient Tomb, Needle -waiting for it to resolve- and when he does nothing I name Sensei's Divining Top. I follow that up with the second Needle naming Pernicious Deed. At that moment naming Top with the first Needle looked like the correct play because I remembered how good Top was against Joachim in round 1. Knowing how the match went I'd now name Pernicious Deed with both Needles because the Welder I was holding would have ensured that Lukas needs three artifact removals before he can activate a Deed.
For several turns now both of us build up a board and try to get the upper hand. A Spike Feeder from Lukas is met with a Mishra's Factory on my side. Even though I get Crucible I can't attack because Lukas has a Wall of Blossoms to hold the fort. After about four more turns of playing lands, small critters and mostly irrelevant artifacts Lukas puts a Pernicious Deed into play. He follows that up with a Harmonic Sliver next turn targetting my Needle naming Deed. I can do nothing but watch as the Needle is destroyed and Deed gets activated for one destroying my other Needle, my Goblin Welder and his Top.
Had I named Deed with both Needles not only would Lukas need to destroy them both but I could have welded the first back in before the second one got destroyed so he'd have to use either Extirpate or Swords on Welder in addition to the artifact removal. Krosan Grip would've worked too but he'd have to pay six mana just to be able to activate his Deed and he'd have to activate it the same turn because I'd be free to weld a Needle back in during my turn. Alas I made a mistake so all that didn't matter.
With the board now a little emptier we both start to rebuild. Lukas is first to add another Sensei's Divining Top to the table and start improving his draws. I have a Silent Arbiter to stop any beatdown in the near future and a topdecked Welder brings back both Pithing Needles this time naming Deed and Survival. In between Welder activations Lukas resolves the first Survival of the match and goes for Genesis and Sakura Tribe Elder before Needle shuts off the Enchantment. With Genesis in the graveyard and Sakura Tribe Elder or Spike Feeder as juicy targets I figure that I'll lose the lategame so I have to try and kill him somehow before he overwhelms me. Platinum Angel comes down just in time to fly over his freshly summoned Gaddock Teeg and Tarmogoyf while providing some additional safety. So with a Platinum Angel in play and two Goblin Welders by now what can go wrong? Everything of course.
First Lukas attacks with a 4/5 Tarmogoyf and I sense Extirpate so instead of chumpblocking with my Mishra's Factory I block with my 1/5 Silent Arbiter. Lukas just quietly moves one of his Spike Feeder counters onto the Goyf and kills my Arbiter, then as predicted Extirpates all Arbiters.
Right now my only hope is to either draw Tormod's Crypt, removing his Genesis so my Angel can kill him (remember he had recurring Spike Feeder) or draw Form of the Dragon to race him.
I make one final mistake when I use Aether Spellbomb to bounce his Gaddock Teeg and play a Smokestack effectively allowing him to get reccuring Harmonic Sliver or Eternal Witness when I ramp it to 1 but it doesn't matter as Lukas just attacks with a bunch of gigantic guys bringing me to negative life and then uses Krosan Grip on my Angel so I lose.
We are informed there's only one minute left in the round so we decide to draw the match.
I'm sure with less misplays I could've survived through extraturns and won but right now a draw against my worst matchup and a really good player on top of that is fine with me.
Another story I want to tell you is about Solidarity. I was watching my cousin (playing 4c Landstill) and his opponent (Solidarity) goes for the combo. After several High Tides and Resets the Solidarity player has almost emptied his hand except for three cards. One of them is a Stroke of Genius that he wished for earlier. So with a really big Stormcount and lots of mana in his pool the Solidarity player goes Stroke you for a lot, response Brain Freeze, Brain Freeze. My cousin taps an Island for 4 mana and casts Stifle, Stifle, Counterspell. How sick is that? XD
Round 3 versus Tristan playing Stupid Red Burn
I didn't know him and I had no idea what he was playing. Turns out that he is a really nice guy with another deck I normally can't beat.
I also lose the die roll so I mentally prepare to drop after this round and cover some more matches.
Game 1 my opponent leads with Mountain and Mogg Fanatic. I put him on Sligh or Burn and decide to try surviving until I can find Chalice or Trinisphere. This means my first turn play is Goblin Welder. I'm hoping that I can trade with the Fanatic or at least make him use a burnspell for something else than my face. When Tristan only attacks and throws the Fanatic at my face after damage without playing any more spells that turn I'm really happy inside. Sadly during my turn I can only play another basic land and Powder Keg. End of turn a Magma Jet meets my face and Tristan sets up his next turn with the scry. I can't believe that he only plays another Fanatic and passes back to me again. However I still don't draw any cards that are good against him so I have to settle with another land into Crucible as my only play. Tristan attacks again and when I pop Keg the Fanatic gets thrown at my face as predicted. No more plays again make me think about how lucky I really am. I play another Welder hoping to distract my opponent once more and eot another Magma Jet gets thrown at me. Tristan is now desperately searching for business it seems. With not much business to be found I just have to endure the burning of a single Lava Spike before it's my turn again. I find a Smokestack that might be able to manascrew him and Tristan clearly concerned about the Welder now throws his third Magma Jet at the Goblin. Another turn of doing nothing threatening by him is met by me finally drawing Trinisphere which in conjunction with Smokestack (now ramped to 1 counter) and Crucible earns the concession from Tristan.
For sideboarding I only change a Pentavus for big Plats and try to find room for 2 additional lands but end up cutting only a Powder Keg for Wasteland. In retrospect I should have cut another Keg for Urza's Factory giving this block constructed staple some Legacy maindeck time.
Game 2 I want to aggressively muligan into Chalice or Trinisphere but I don't have to as a Chalice greets me in my opening seven. Tristan starts this game off with a Lava Spike to the dome and I, having only lands that produce 1 mana, go for turn 1 Welder again. Playing Mountain, pass I can see another eot Jet coming from Tristan. Anyway I put down my Chalice at one hoping it will buy me enough time to hardlock him. Of course Magma Jet comes my way and during his turn Tristan goes for Browbeat. With Chalice in play I let him draw the cards hoping he can't play any of them. My third turn I find a City of Traitors and play Smokestack hoping again to manascrew him. His answer to my plan is simply playing more lands and throwing more burn at my face it seems when he lays down Mountain number 4 and hits me with a Flames of the Bood Hand. I continue assembling the lock by ramping Smokestack to 1 and playing Crucible during my next turn. However it looks like Tristan has found exactly the right card to foil my plans. I take a deep breath when I see him play Ankh of Mishra. Luckily I can resolve and activate an Explosives for 2 before taking too much damage. Tristan can only get me down to 7 life and then loses his last Mountain putting him into the hardlock of Crucible plus Smokestack plus Chalice at 1. He concedes before Welder can finish him.
At this point I can't stop running around, showing everybody my deck and telling them I'm 2-0-1 so far. I'm playing really bad with probably the worst deck ever and somehow I'm winning. It was just ridiculous.
Round 4 versus Daniel (Adan on The Source) with Threshold
Daniel is a really (and I mean really) good player. The only thing keeping him from doing better is his own bad luck. This time it was no different.
Game 1 going first Daniel only drops a land and passes the turn. I draw a card and start doing broken stuff. Namely dropping Ancient Tomb, Mox, Goblin Welder and Chalice for 1. Everything resolves and I decide to write a big fat BAM right next to my notes. Daniel suggests to add a big LOL next to it. I oblige. For several turns I'm beating down with Welder and Daniel desperately tries to find a creature plus mana to cast it but his bad luck is right there when he plays Predict and mills a Mystic Enforcer. Even worse I add a Powder Keg to the table and ramp it up to two counters to destroy any Tarmogoyfs he might draw. And when you think it can't get any worse I'm making another bad play that lets me win that game.
The situation is as follows: I have Welder and Solemn Simulacrum beating down, Powder Keg set at two and Engineered Explosives in hand. So what does a good player do? He certainly does not play Explosives for 2 AND ramp Powder Keg up to four hoping to defend against Goyfs and the last Enforcer in Daniels deck. Of course I do ramp up the Keg to 4 and play Explosives for 2 but as it turns out Daniel does indeed have the fourth mana plus the last Mystic Enforcer right after Keg hits four counters. So now he needs to first draw a Tarmogoyf making me blow Explosives and destroy my Keg then play Mystic Enforcer. Lucky for me he does not draw a Goyf before Welder and Simulacrum kill him.
Sideboarding: -Solemn Simulacrum, -Pentavus, -Karn, -Aether Spellbomb, -Mindless Automaton; +Blood Moon, +Tormod's Crypt, +Wasteland, +Razormane Masticore, +1 card I can't remember (I think it was Form of the Dragon)
Game 2 involved more being lucking on my side and having bad luck on his side. Daniel again goes first, this time dropping a Needle naming Wasteland. Just like last game I go Ancient Tomb, Mox but this time not having Welder I only play Chalice for 1 which promptly gets forced. A second land comes down for Daniel and I think he also played a cantrip. It didn't matter much as I play a Trinisphere that does not get countered and he only finds a third land when it is too late. The hardlock makes him concede before Welder can go all the way.
Holy cow! I'm first place and will be guaranteed to make top 8! What will all the people think when they see this list on the internet?
Seriously Herxheim has come a long way from events with only 8 people playing their petdecks to a real Legacy metagame. This can in part be attributed to the locals getting better but another big part comes from all the cool people coming from Speyer and Karlsruhe showing us what they are capable of. Big props to all of you guys.
Because two people had to leave early and dropped, the number of players went down from 17 to 15 and we had a brief discussion about playing only 4 rounds instead of 5. Most people wanted 4 rounds so they could go home earlier but there was also the request to play the announced 5 rounds so Stefan (the tournament organizer) decided to play 5 rounds but reminded everybody of their option to just drop.
Round 5 versus Stefan (not the tournament organizer ;) ) with 5c Zoo
Finally I get to play against one of the many Stefans. (There always seem to be at least 3 people named Stefan at those tournaments.) Initially I mistake him for his brother who is playing Scepter Chant today.
I win the die roll and decide to go first.
Game 1 not really knowing what he's playing I lead with Ancient Tomb into Powder Keg. For a short moment I'm confused when he fetches for a Taiga but then I remember that it is Tobias who is playing Scepters, not Stefan. That concerns me a bit because I know Stefan is playing Aggro most of the time and we all know how bad my deck should lose to Aggro.
Anyway after that confusing issue is solved Stefan passes back to me keeping his mana open. I then make a slight mistake that again does not cost me the game when I use a Mountain plus the Ancient Tomb to play Crucible. Instead I should have used the Ghost Quarter I was holding to either destroy his land immediately or to play the Crucible and destroy both his lands next turn.
Again it didn't matter much as Stefan only bolts me eot and uses a Savannah during his turn to play Boros Swiftblade. I draw and topdeck Wasteland which is used to destroy his Taiga. His Swiftblade gets taken care of by Powder Keg and when he does not play a third land after attacking I use the Wasteland again during my turn to leave him permanentless. The concession follows one or two turns later.
Sideboarding: -2 Mindless Automaton, -1 Goblin Welder, -1 Pentavus, -1 Karn; +3 Silent Arbiter, +1 Razormane Masticore, +1 Wasteland
At first I want to board Blood Moon too but I'm not sure how much burn and red creatures he plays so I decide to try it for game 3 should it come to that.
Game 2 is over almost as quick as game 1 so I didn't take much notes. Stefan begins with Taiga plus Kird Ape and I answer with Tomb plus Chalice at 1. The Ape and a Boros Swiftblade take me down to 10 life before Smokestack and Wasteland clear his board again and a Crucible means hardlock. We shake hands and I'm officially a tournament winner.
Two days later now and I still can't believe I actually won. It's a strange feeling writing this report, trying to remember what happened and finding so much where I can still improve.
I suggest that everybody who wants to improve should sit down after a tournament and write a report. It does not have to be published (although I like reading any report I can find) but it can really help you get better by finding potential misplays or even just great plays you want to repeat when you encounter a situation again.
Thanks for reading.
Oh before I forget it the obligatory props and slops:
Props:
Stefan Z. for organizing another event
My cousin Jens for lending me Pithing Needles and a third Volcanic Island
DCI Reporter for awarding me one Bye
Stax in all its shapes and forms for never letting me down (right now it's getting me a beer)
Prices for being awarded to top 5 players
Slops
Stefan B. for dropping after round 3. Girlfriend > Magic my ass ;)
Stefan C. for not showing up again. Afraid of ruining your rating? :P
Prizes for not containing a Dual this time. Finally I'm winning and all I get is Boosters?
McDonalds for renovating and making us sit on those benches and tables for beer tents.