Good Job Feline! Was sad that you had a Bridesmaid finish.. Those tie breaks..
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Good Job Feline! Was sad that you had a Bridesmaid finish.. Those tie breaks..
Well SCG Nashville was different, I started out 1-1-1 and figured by the law of averages, there'd be no way I'd win the next 6 in a row, and even then if it actually happened I knew I'd be at the bottom of the 7-1-1's, so I pretty much knew I was done playing for top 8, knowing there'd be 1 or 2 7-1-1's that'd likely not make it based on the number of players & rounds. I am still pretty happy with the overall result with 9th, I basically felt like I top 8'd that one, just not by the technical standards.
In either case, it is a nice boost to motivation. I don't know if I'll write a tourney report this time around because I actually forgot my notepad before leaving, so I took notes on paper & I didn't write down as much as I was focusing more on playing.
Some things I do remember are, in no particular order:
1) Cast High Tide, opponent counters it, cast another High Tide in response, they counter it, then I cast Flusterstorm on both their counters, with them unable to pay, & I basically 2-for-1 the Force of Wills, & get 2 High Tides cast in the process.
2) Chalice of the Void on 1 is annoying, Chalice of the Void on 1, and a second on 3, is bad! Congrats to a UB Tezzeret opponent round 8, I had to scoop a game to that.
3) Elves is the one loss I had, to Thomas Graves (who just won the previous SCG Columbus, & then top 8'd Nashville, congrats again on those back to back top 8's) I think back and I don't think there's much I could have done different that could have improved there.
4) Thank you again round 6, Chris Matt, for actually letting me sit there and Blue Sun's Zenith for 834, it was fun throwing around numbers in the 100's like that, & I hope it was fun to watch!
5) On camera game 3, when I High Tide + Blue Sun Zenith'd in response to V Clique, I Brainstormed afterward, then completely forgot about putting relevant cards on top to hide it & I threw 2 lands on top like a regular Brainstorm, right after I did that I realized it and it was too late. I still can't explain why I did it, but it would have been way more impressive if after pulling off the Tide + Zenith in response, to then Brainstorm on top of it properly. Either way, Defense Grid game 2 was not so well either.
6) I do know that the way I place my lands might look a little different now. Instead of 1 pile & 1 Island on the right of me, I play the first land for the turn to the left of the main pile of lands so there's 1 by itself there too, that way if I see a single land in play to the left of the pile, I know I played a land that turn. I always check for that before the first Time Spiral, so I don't forget to play a land anymore which is something I was doing probably more than I realize. If you find yourself missing a land drop because you just forgot, maybe this little habit will help.
7) I am definitely going to Seattle for the open in march, however I'm going to leave on the weekend of the 22-23rd of Feb. The reason for this, is I will just happen to be going through St Louis, right at the time of that open, so I am now looking at BOTH St Louis, AND Seattle in the next month or so. When I get to St Louis, the last time I got to the city, St Louis, then took the light rail across the river to that casino in Illinois just south of Collinsville, but from that Casino to Collinsville, you have to Taxi. Does anyone in the local area know if city busing is a possibility from that Casino to the convention center in Collinsville? I am going to look things up online if I can find something. Less $ spent on a Taxi the more I can use for magic 8-)
The way you handle your cards is pretty impressive. Drawing and shuffling with your left hand while you look over your cards in your right. Crazy. :cool:
Congrats again! #9 is pretty impressive, and definitely nicely done after a 1-1-1 start.
Ok so new plan, no opens until Seattle, mid March, but then it will be SCG Seattle > SCG LA > SCG Milwaukee > SCG Detroit >SCG Cincinnati all in a span of about 6 weeks I think!
I'm late but congratz feline! I've just watched your match against deathblade in round 9 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aafpTD9SS1Y) and I wanted to ask you: are you still sold on defense grid? You basically lost the second game to them.
And I have to say that I've LOVED your comeback in game three with USZ :)
Are these cards hot enought? Specially leyline which in uncasteable if it's not in you opening seven.Quote:
Originally Posted by Admiral_Arzar
And how do you think spirit of the labyrinth will affect our play?
mother + spirt = ?
So many misplays...Quote:
Originally Posted by kingtk3
I haven't had the pleasure of getting to play this deck but seeing it on camera was a thing of beauty.
Ya but playing against it will put one to sleep :'(Quote:
Originally Posted by tyhiggz
Basically I have a set of cards not in the High Tide sideboard, but not in my trade binder either, they are the "beyond 75" cards in the deck, which include Defense Grids, Leyline of Sanctity, Grafdigger's cages. Right now I'm doing Grids because I found in more recent testing that I'd bring them in more against more matches than the other 2. As for losing game 2 to it, I shouldn't have casted it, but I had 8 cards in hand and didn't want to discard, so I figured I'd play it to eat up a counterspell, I was not as expecting it to resolve & even if it did, I could still bounce. Obviously though however, him topdecking a Thoughtseize and using it to hit Rebuild, was unfortunate.
i am actually pretty scared of the new Spirit. I've been trying out a few bounce spells to see what I like the best between Rushing River, Cyclonic Rift, Capsize, and Withdraw versus the current slot of a second Wipe Away. Rift trumps Mom, but really sucks at getting off it's feet if there's both Thalia and a Spirit out. Withdraw sucks because it doesn't get them all of the time and can be played around, Capsize is far too expensive for only one target at a time, and Rushing River sacs lands which you may need.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenCid
Leyline is a concession to "discard + Surgical Extraction" being a huge issue for this deck. Even without Surgical, anything with Hymns and a fast clock is going to be rough. Sure you can't cast Leylines, but ditching useless cards is what Brainstorm is for. Defense Grid is a blowout against tempo decks that don't play Hymn, and is also good against midrange blue decks without discard. It is IMO the best sideboard card we have for the RUG matchup, for example. Widespread Spirits are obviously bad for us, just like a lot of Meddling Mage or Thalia is also bad for us. I've been considering Spell Snare in the board if the number of hate bears in the format becomes overwhelming.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenCid
At a local shop in the Cleveland area, I did a run, tested out 4 leyline of sanctity & 2 defense grid in the sideboard, tempted to push for a 3rd grid, but I'd have to move another card out of the sideboard and it's a tight squeeze. Might put the sideboarded 4th flusterstorm into the main and just cut the maindeck wipe away, but I don't like not having one main against counterbalance while only having 1 in the side.
Long time lurker and fan of high tide. I feel like the maindeck wipe away is essential considering the amount of miracles in the current meta. If you're going to be running 4 leylines and 3 grids, is having a full playset of flusterstorms still necessary? If anything, I would cut down to the 3 remaining main deck flusterstorms if you're running so much anti-disruption and anti-countermagic in the board.Quote:
Originally Posted by feline
On another note, I'm curious how you're able to cut down the wishboard to fit in 6 leylines/grids. I'm imagining it's something like:
1 Pact of Negation
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Brainfreeze
1 Turnabout
1 Meditate
1 Flusterstorm
1 Intuition
1 Wipe Away
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Defense Grid
which would cut out the extra Pact of Negation and the Rebuild.
Either way, I really enjoy the tournament write-ups, and good luck with the upcoming SCG Opens!
Hint: Swan Song gets Spirit of the Labyrinth.
That's quite nice to know.
I kept Rebuild and cut Surgical Extraction.Quote:
Originally Posted by princeofperasia
Are there any (reasonable) cards that deal with multiple hatebears? ANT has Massacre and SNT has Pyroclasm. I can't find anything better than rushing river, which is mediocre. All the bears we care about are humans so it seems like there should be a card that gets it done, but I can't find any.
Withdraw? It's somewhat similar to Rushing River in that it is mediocre, but it's an option as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by clavio
You can go for Devastation Tide, since Gaddock Teeg is a non-factor these days. The downside is, that you have to play multiple copies of it in the board, since you need to cantrip into it, rather than open it in your starting seven or tutor for it. It also deals nicely with hatebear + Aether Vial. Also decent against Counterbalance. They only have Force of Will to hit off their CB Trigger.Quote:
Originally Posted by clavio
I've been using Snap / Wipe Away, as well having Rebuild / Wipe Away in the sideboard.