The gauntlet

[thefreakaccident]

I have been playtesting against a lot of decks, and was wondering what the community thought about what would be the best gauntlet to undergo in a GP event...

This is the gauntlet that I am preparing for myself:


Combo:
breakfast
ichorid
TES/Iggy Pop

Aggro:
Goblins (green and black splashes)
Goyf Sligh (Rg)

Aggro-control:
Threshold (UGb, UGr, UGw)
suicide (mono, Br and Bg)
survival (Gbr)
Dragon stompy (mono red)
Funkbrew (BGW good stuff)

Control:
landstill (Ugwb, Uwb)
armagedon stax (white)
Aggro-loam (Grb)


I have a couple more slots to playtest against... this will not be fun or quick either, but I think it is necessary if I will be able to get my name out there a little bit more than it currently is.

Are there any other decks that I am missing for my gauntlet that should probably be there?

What is the best way to prepare for a Legacy GP environment? (I am able to fly out to anywhere in the states for this now)

[Nihil Credo]

Take out Belcher. If you can beat TES, than you can probably beat Belcher - and those games you lost to Belcher that you would have won against TES are probably games where any deck would have lost to Belcher.

Take out Fish. Whatever deck you're playing, there is at least one Threshold build that is just as bad for you as Fish, if not worse.

Replace UG Threshold, which no-one plays, with UGB, which is heavily played and deservedly so. Besides, UG's strongest advantage was the control matchup, and Black can match it with Thoughtseizes, Confidants and Extirpates.

Add Goyf Sligh. It's fast and consistent, has put up results, and one of the best decks at punishing inconsistence.

UW Landstill is an Enlightened Tutor list, right? Because otherwise there's no reason to play it over UWb. (BTW: use Marius Hackmann's list for UWb)

Add Aggro Loam (black splash for maindeck Thoughtseize). It was a good deck already, and it's about to get a significant power-up from Morningtide.

Add Dragon Stompy. It's becoming popular, and it's important to know how your manabase fares against eight Blood Moons.

Add a BGW Good Stuff deck on the style of Extended Doran Rock - you can find several lists in the CaNGD. No, it's not terribly good, but it's a popular choice and very short on weaknesses. If Sligh and Stompy will test your deck's consistency, Good Stuff will test its raw power.

[thefreakaccident]

Thank you for thew suggestions... I will alter my opening post to include your suggestions.

EDIT: Do you have Marius' list, if so could you PM it to me?

[diffy]

EDIT: Do you have Marius' list, if so could you PM it to me?


Our newest list:



/// Mainboard (60 cards)

// Lands
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
4 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
2 Plains
2 Island
1 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
1 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Factory

// Creatures
1 Eternal Dragon

// Spells
4 Brainstorm
4 Standstill
3 Cunning Wish
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Wrath of God
2 Humility
3 Engineered Explosives
2 Decree of Justice
2 Crucible of Worlds

/// Sideboard (15 cards)
4 Meddling Mage
4 Engineered Plague
3 Extirpate
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Pulse of the Fields
1 Return to Dust
1 Enlightened Tutor


The Tolaria West and the sideboard Enlightened Tutor are current test slots.

Marius's old list:



Main:
-1 Tolaria West
+1 Wasteland

-1 Engineered Explosives
-1 Wrath of God
+2 Stifle

Sideboard:
-1 Enlightened Tutor
+1 Fact or Fiction


I really never liked the stifles in the main and have convinced Marius just before he abandoned Landstill that they suck.
The fof in the sideboard was just too often way to clunky so I first replaced it with Extirpate n°4 and then switched that to Enlightened Tutor for a little more tech/usefull Cunning Wishes without immediate need for answers.



Combo:
breakfast
ichorid
TES/Iggy Pop


I'd take TES over Iggy Pop all day long as its faster and not liable to graveyard hate.



Aggro:
Goblins (green and black splashes)
Goyf Sligh (Rg)


Do you mean a green and black splashed version? If so then I'd probably test against a Rgb version with Tarmogoyfs and against a more conventional Rgb version with Piledrivers.



Aggro-control:
Threshold (UGb, UGr, UGw)
suicide (mono, Br and Bg)
survival (Gbr)
Dragon stompy (mono red)
Funkbrew (BGW good stuff)


I don't think that you need to test against 3 different sui-black builds as they have all more or less the same strategy. I'd just stick with the most played/agreed best version (Eva Green?)



Control:
landstill (Ugwb, Uwb)
armagedon stax (white)
Aggro-loam (Grb)


I'd add one mono-colored or board control deck in here (Truffle Shuffle or MUC) as they play out quite differently from the others.

Edit: Maybe you should also post the lists of the decks you plan to test against.

[Mister Agent]

I would personally take Marius's uwb landstill list as well if I was going to the GP. Considering it's one of those landstill decks that have been highly tested and cunning wish has the role to make your bad matchups better in pre-board games. Besides it has good efficiency because it's manabase is manageable even in a metagame full of wastelands and stifles.

[Nosomo.]

I might go to the GP if i know when it is so I can plan a budget for it and see if I can get off work (probably not).

[diffy]

I would personally take Marius's uwb landstill list as well if I was going to the GP.


Well, I would not recomend anyone to play that particular list if he/she hasn't prepared a lot. You really need to know your matchups in and out to stand a chance against more experienced players and the worser matchups.

If I were to go into a GP event, I'd definetely play Ichorid because it has so many matchups that are just a *BYE* and isn't so exhausting to play (at least in the game 1s) which is an important factor in longer tournaments (I felt so sick after playing 7 rounds of Landstill in the German Champs...).
In a larger event you can also afford the random loss that your deck will give you and still be in content for top8 / day2.

[zulander]

Add in Faerie stompy, I know it isn't played as much as dragon stompy but it's still played.

[matelml]

Where is Burn and Pikula (I don't think you need to test Br and Bg)?

IGGy-pop isn't necessary, Faerie Stompy neither and Funkbrew would probably be better as a more midrange goodstuff deck. You might want Hannifish.

[Mister Agent]

Well, I would not recomend anyone to play that particular list if he/she hasn't prepared a lot. You really need to know your matchups in and out to stand a chance against more experienced players and the worser matchups.

If I were to go into a GP event, I'd definetely play Ichorid because it has so many matchups that are just a *BYE* and isn't so exhausting to play (at least in the game 1s) which is an important factor in longer tournaments (I felt so sick after playing 7 rounds of Landstill in the German Champs...).
In a larger event you can also afford the random loss that your deck will give you and still be in content for top8 / day2.

Yeah well Robert(thefreakaccident) should be able to handle it since he plays landstill alot. I definitely do not underestimate his skill level when playing with landstill since he usually does very well in just about all of his local tournaments. I personally think he is pretty capable of doing very well at the next level too with landstill.

@matelml: Thanks matelml I am glad someone still thinks funkbrew is a good deck in the legacy metagame. But yes I think Funkbrew is also a nice choice for the GP.

[thefreakaccident]

If you guys want me to post up my lists in which I plan to play aginst I can... although making the proxied decks was exhausting enough (I like to get the decks then play with my partner at school in our own class... we don't have class during the last 4th)...

This gives me a better and more real feel for matchups... and since my opponent is a lot more competent than most people you would find online (MWS idiots... they make me angry).


I play nothing but landstill and blue in general (directed at Der_imaginäre_Freund)... I was planning on playing landstill anyways as I feel that it is that factor (getting tired of long Matches) alone that landstill doesn't win every tournament it goes into.

I rather enjoy your list Der, I think it is well rounded and quite powerful... I am currently testing 3 decks to take to the GP (none of which I will spoil here, sorry you guys)... I plan on at least making day 2 at the GP and hopefully doing better... this was really just a way to get the discussion rolling, as I feel everyone should begin preparation... and an agreed upon gauntlet can do just that (prepare you for large events).

I hate these pros that just go in and do well without even knowing what is going on.

I will be damned if a non-sourcer wins this event!

[Mister Agent]

Here is Clemen's uwb landstill list that he played to a 20th place finish out of 175 players at the german legacy champs in 2007. I personally like the 3 decree of justices instead of two but other then that it looks very similiar to the most updated uwb landstill list.

Here is Clemen's deck.

Mainboard (60 cards)

4 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
2 Island
2 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
4 Mishra’s Factory
3 Wasteland

2 Eternal Dragon
3 Decree of Justice

4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell

4 Wrath of God
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Engineered Explosives

4 Brainstorm
4 Standstill
3 Cunning Wish
2 Fact or Fiction


Sideboard (15 cards)

1 Fact or Fiction
1 Pulse of the Fields
1 Disenchant
3 Extirpate
2 Humility
3 Engineered Plague
4 Meddling Mage