GPT win with Turbo Eldrazi @ Lost Harbor Westfield, MA

Lost Harbor is a relatively close venue to me, with a great casual magic crowd, fair prices, and an owner that is both rules-savvy and cordial. I was enthused to see a GPT Denver event there, as I plan on flying cross-country for the event to shower the Midwest with my Eldrazi goodness. We had 5 rounds with a cut to top 4, with a small showing, but quality players present. Everyone knew what I was playing. No big surprise there.

The List:

// Lands
4 [FNM] Cloudpost
4 [TSP] Vesuva
4 [SOM] Glimmerpost
3 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
4 [B] Tropical Island
1 [ZEN] Island (2)
1 [WWK] Eye of Ugin
1 [LG] Karakas
1 [CMD] Bojuka Bog
1 [IA] Glacial Chasm
1 [ZEN] Forest (1a)

// Creatures
1 [ROE] Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 [ROE] Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 [ROE] Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
4 [M12] Primeval Titan

// Spells
3 [US] Show and Tell
2 [5E] Brainstorm
4 [UL] Crop Rotation
4 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
2 [AQ] Candelabra of Tawnos
4 [ZEN] Expedition Map
4 [GP] Repeal
3 [10E] Pithing Needle
2 [ROE] All Is Dust

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [LG] The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
SB: 4 [CMD] Flusterstorm
SB: 2 [FUT] Venser, Shaper Savant
SB: 2 [NPH] Beast Within
SB: 2 [VI] Elephant Grass
SB: 3 [ZEN] Mindbreak Trap
SB: 1 [NPH] Spellskite


Round 1: Andy with RuG

Game 1: An early goyf starts whapping at me for 3 followed up with a delver. However glimmerposts gain me 3, 4, 5, then 6 life, staving off the bleeding until a shown in Kozilek seals the deal. Props to Andy though, double stifles on annihilator nearly save his life, but alas not.

Game 2: I gain disgusting amounts of life off of a shown in Primeval Titan, while Andy has a hand of bolts and cantrips.


Round 2: Chance with Elves Combo

Game 1: Chance goes bonkers on turn 2 and draws his ENTIRE deck, as concordant crossroads is the last card in his library. He swings in with everyone for super super super lethal, but I crop rotate for a glacial chasm, and he scoops, dying in his next draw phase despite having gsz's to put back had it not gone all-in unnecessarily. I tell him that I had an All is Dust in 3 turns anyhow, so not to feel too bad.

Game 2: I open up a hand to 2x Flusterstorm, spellskite, mindbreak trap. Super keep. Double flusterstorm stops his glimpse, Spellskite then buys me two untaps from a Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote. I all is Dust when at 3 life, then cast Ulamog three times on one turn.


Round 3: Hatch with Dead Guy Ale brew

Game 1: I have a hand of 2x Primeval titan against zero pressure and a Candelabra. I super stupidly don't get enough mana to cast a Primeval Titan without using Candelabra the next turn, and then proceed to get eye of Ugin with the second candelabra untapped. He wastes the ugin, and then we play draw-go for 12+ turns where my only real outs are top into eldrazis. I punt hard and vow not to do this again in the next two games.

Game 2: I take some early thalia beats, but Primeval Titan scoops the game in my favor quickly.

Game 3: A hardcast Primeval titan on turn 3 thanks to a Candelabra yields me triple casting Ulamog on turn 5 to hit all his lands.


Round 4: Blake with Mono White Mangara Control

Game 1: A Judge's Familiar and then Serra Avenger beat on me for 5 turns, but I'm still at 19 life thanks to Glimmerpost hilarity. Kozilek gets Mangara'd, Ulamog gets Swords'd, but Emrakul avenged them both.

Game 2: Primeval titan gained me 12 life on turn 3, then Ulamog turned his life from 20 to 10 to 0. I love this deck. =D


Round 5: Dan with Infect

Game 1: He blows me out with a turn 3 kill. Hilariously I also had a turn 3 kill, but die rolls, ya know.

Game 2: I go to 4 Infect but then land Glacial Chasm via Primeval Titan, which doesn't even last one turn before I go infinite.

Game 3: 4 poison again, but I ride a Glacial Chasm pony from 21 life down to 1 over 5 turns, then take all the turns. huzzah =D


Top 4: Sean with Dead Guy Ale-ish Brew. Vraska, Sorin, and Vindicates

Game 1: I go upto 68 life after getting my eye of Ugin vindicated again because I am STUPID. Remind me to stop being dumb some day. Anyhow, I eventually just kill him with Primeval Titans.

Game 2: He Ultimates a Vraska on me and kills me with assassins 3 turns after I debate to name Sorin or Vraska on pithing needle. WRONG Name! I needed a single land tutor for so many turns, but his Hymns were hitting super well.

Game 3: Sorin applies some beats to me, but Emrakul is bigger than 1/1 lifelinkers. In one awkward turn I had to attack Sorin just incase he had answers and could ultimate onto Emrakul, stealing them.


Finals: Chance with Combo Elves. AGAIN
Have ever mentioned that I HATE HATE HATE Combo elves? I despise losing to them, I despise beating them, I DESPISE THEM! Where are all the Rug & Junk decks that should be OBLITERATING them!? However Chance is a great guy. STILL HATE ELVES THOUGH! ok. done. for now...

Game 1: He wins the die roll, and whoever got to turn 3 first won. Guess who it wasn't, THIS GUY! He goes super combo, and my 3rd mystery card via top had to be Crop rotate. It wasn't.

Game 2: Flusterstorm buys me one turn for all is Dust on his board, to Primeval Titan to Emrakul. Magical flow like Dub FX.

Game 3: I keep a hand on Fluster, Top, Trop. I draw Tabernacle, Yes please. Then I draw a Crop rotate, nom. I opt to crop rotate out my Tabernacle EoT to show & Tell in a Primeval Titan, which nets me a Glacial Chasm into infinite turns the next turn, with a Mindbreak Trap in hand for backup.

Wow... so much fun! Great report and awesome deck.
I recently bought candelabras so might aswell put this together now...Im not much for netdecking so I would appreciate some explanation on the not-so-obvious cards like Pithing Needle/Repeal. Have they performed? Anything else you are tempted to play? Also, how come you only run 2 candelabras and 3 show and tells? Seems super-sweet in this deck! About the mana, any problem finding U/G?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mackan

Wow... so much fun! Great report and awesome deck.
I recently bought candelabras so might aswell put this together now...Im not much for netdecking so I would appreciate some explanation on the not-so-obvious cards like Pithing Needle/Repeal. Have they performed? Anything else you are tempted to play? Also, how come you only run 2 candelabras and 3 show and tells? Seems super-sweet in this deck! About the mana, any problem finding U/G?

---

Pithing Needle almost always goes on Wasteland, but if they are not playing a tempo-oriented deck then Pithing needle names combo pieces (Griselbrand, Helm of Obedience, Sneak Attack), then lastly names control pieces (Jace, Liliana, Knight of the Reliquary).

Repeal is the wonder-child of the deck. It does everything and anything. It is mostly there for Delver, as a transformed permanent's cmc = 0, so Repeal becomes phenomenal. It is an incredible Draw engine with SDT, becoming Draw 2 for 3 mana whilst enabling looking at the 3 cards after the spell's resolution. It deals with pesky threats mid-game. And it resets Candelabra for an incredible mana burst late-game. There are no stages of the game where Repeal is bad. I have gone down to 3 and oft regretted it. Several individuals have tested other removal spells and complained about difficulty of winning or wondered why they weren't pulling through.

I strongly suggest checking out the Established thread for general questions, as there is an extremely comprehensive list of information there. Don't feel intimidated to ask away though, even if I do reference you to a search function for highly-repeated questions.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rock Lee

Repeal is the wonder-child of the deck. It does everything and anything. It is mostly there for Delver, as a transformed permanent's cmc = 0, so Repeal becomes phenomenal. It is an incredible Draw engine with SDT, becoming Draw 2 for 3 mana whilst enabling looking at the 3 cards after the spell's resolution. It deals with pesky threats mid-game. And it resets Candelabra for an incredible mana burst late-game. There are no stages of the game where Repeal is bad. I have gone down to 3 and oft regretted it. Several individuals have tested other removal spells and complained about difficulty of winning or wondered why they weren't pulling through.

---

Just wanted to make sure I have the correct picture in mind:

-tap 1 to peek top 3 cards
-response tap sensei's to draw a card (assuming that we already know which one is the top card that we want to draw)
-response Repeal my Top.
----
-bounce Top, draw one
-draw one off Top spin
-peek top 3 cards (which are 2 unknown cards and 1 already known)

amiright?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kiblast

Just wanted to make sure I have the correct picture in mind:

-tap 1 to peek top 3 cards
-response tap sensei's to draw a card (assuming that we already know which one is the top card that we want to draw)
-response Repeal my Top.
----
-bounce Top, draw one
-draw one off Top spin
-peek top 3 cards (which are 2 unknown cards and 1 already known)

amiright?

---

yes, or you can do it without looking for 3 mana, or if you have loads of mana, you can look between each draw, before and after, giving you maximum plays. I have even gone so far as stacking 4+ looks, between each draw, enabling me to use expedition maps and crop rotates to further shuffle multiple times.

Congrats!

-Matt

Man I always love reading your reports as I do love this deck. If I could afford it I would be playing it. I feel as if it is the best deck that nobody plays...

How are the All is Dust? I realize that you can ramp REALLY fast, but is seven mana too much?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Megadeus

Man I always love reading your reports as I do love this deck. If I could afford it I would be playing it. I feel as if it is the best deck that nobody plays...

How are the All is Dust? I realize that you can ramp REALLY fast, but is seven mana too much?

---

Well 7 mana, or 5 with Eye of Ugin in play. I regularly can cast it on turn 4, turn 3 plays usually involve a candelabra or crop rotations.

But no, I never had it in hand and said "darn its just too expensive to save me." At this event in particular I cast it on turn 3 several times, including twice to save my life from KoTR + Liliana, and against a horde of elves.

Hey, congrats on winning, had fun playing against you. Just a correction on our match (I was the Mono W deck,) I never saw primetime in that match. You just ramped me both games via posts. Other than that, glad to see you take down the Elves Combo deck.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tanarin

Hey, congrats on winning, had fun playing against you. Just a correction on our match (I was the Mono W deck,) I never saw primetime in that match. You just ramped me both games via posts. Other than that, glad to see you take down the Elves Combo deck.

---

My apologies, I was trying to extrapolate from minimal notes that game. Gaining large amounts of life oft means Primeval Titan. Thanks!

Good Job Rock Lee! :)

In a very spread out meta what list would you recommend for so many iterations of the deck? Our meta here has a lot of blue but it's combo, control and aggro at the same time. Too many different decks to really build the deck's list.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blindspotxxx

Good Job Rock Lee! :)

In a very spread out meta what list would you recommend for so many iterations of the deck? Our meta here has a lot of blue but it's combo, control and aggro at the same time. Too many different decks to really build the deck's list.

---

I'd need more details. Blue based combo, so Omnishow & Tendrils? If you're having aggro issues then All is Dust will shore up that easily, as will added show & tells. If you have an Omnishow meta, and you're going upto 4 Show & Tells, then go to 4 Show Targets (Venser/Spine of Ish Sah) in the sideboard. If Tendrils is omnipresent, then include Mindbreak Traps.

I need more info to give an accurate picture.

It's ok you already answered SBGpinas my teammate. This December 2 we're going to have another major and he will rock Turbo Eldrazzi while I use my trusty deck of UR Delver :) Thanks for the help!

What is your logic in bringing in Flusterstorm and MBT vs. Elves? I understand Spellskite - it's a body, sucks up Wirewood activations, and can save a Needle from Viridian Shaman.

However, Flusterstorm and MBT seem very narrow against this match-up. Flusterstorm hits Glimpse and GSZ. MBT would hit one spell, because Elves isn't using the storm mechanic.

Do you feel it is that valuable to stop Glimpse vs. Elves?

Given your set-up, what do you cut? Bojuka Bog, Show and Tell (worried about their Emrakul - although I thought S&T was good vs. the aggro match-ups)? What else, it looks like you are bringing in almost your whole sideboard.

You've peaked my curiosity.

Thanks!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Water_Wizard

What is your logic in bringing in Flusterstorm and MBT vs. Elves? I understand Spellskite - it's a body, sucks up Wirewood activations, and can save a Needle from Viridian Shaman.

However, Flusterstorm and MBT seem very narrow against this match-up. Flusterstorm hits Glimpse and GSZ. MBT would hit one spell, because Elves isn't using the storm mechanic.

Do you feel it is that valuable to stop Glimpse vs. Elves?

Given your set-up, what do you cut? Bojuka Bog, Show and Tell (worried about their Emrakul - although I thought S&T was good vs. the aggro match-ups)? What else, it looks like you are bringing in almost your whole sideboard.

You've peaked my curiosity.

Thanks!

---

Against nearly all combo decks you side out your slow advantage cards or highly situational cards in lieu of straight counters. Against Elves I side out Pithing needle, Bojuka bog, Repeal on the draw, not on the play, 2 maps, Kozilek, 1 Candelabra. On the draw, koz, candle, maps come back in.

Siding is extremely weird and matchup/build dependent.

Against Elves you only need to buy 1-2 turns, so Fluster on Glimpse or a GSZ can stall them out enough for an All is Dust. And MBT does exactly what I needed it to do for me in G3, buy me one turn, or exile their Emrakul so I can take all the turns.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rock Lee

Against nearly all combo decks you side out your slow advantage cards or highly situational cards in lieu of straight counters. Against Elves I side out Pithing needle, Bojuka bog, Repeal on the draw, not on the play, 2 maps, Kozilek, 1 Candelabra. On the draw, koz, candle, maps come back in.

Siding is extremely weird and matchup/build dependent.

Against Elves you only need to buy 1-2 turns, so Fluster on Glimpse or a GSZ can stall them out enough for an All is Dust. And MBT does exactly what I needed it to do for me in G3, buy me one turn, or exile their Emrakul so I can take all the turns.

---

Interesting perspective. A complicated deck that I have yet to learn. Thank you for the response.