[Deck] Land Ho! - Life from the Loam sleaze

Well I'm currently running a 4 color list. I know this seems absurd but I'm really not having problems doing so. Here's the list I've been playing.


4 Tranquil Thicket
2 Forgotten Cave
4 Seculded Steppe
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
3 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Scrubland
1 Mountain
1 Taiga
1 Bayou
3 Mox Diamond

4 Birds of Paridise
3 Academy Rector
1 Graveshell Scarab
1 Squee, Goblin Boob
2 Eternal Witness

4 Life from the Loam
3 Solitary Confinement
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Sterling Grove
3 Gamble
1 Firestorm
1 Form of the Dragon
1 Seismic Assault
1 Pernicious Deed

SB
3 Roar of the Worm
4 Loxodon Hierarch
4 Disenchant
3 Wasteland
1 Genesis


This list is putting up good numbers for me. Im not playing wastelands since I'm more concerned to get my confinement lock. Playing 4 colors leaves no room for wasteland anyways. I can take out a color to side it in where needed. Form of the dragon can double as a lock piece and kill condition. Anyone who hasnt tried this beast out needs to at least give it a try. It normally comes into play with rector, making for some unfair advantages.

Rector makes for alot of tricks since it can do things like fetch sterling grove and make your confinement untargetable, take that solidarity. Or can swap places for a deed when you have all your mana untapped. I know I lack devestating dreams but I'm purposely trying for a different build.

Dont think 4 color Loam is crap. It's very versatile. Give it a shot.

I was looking through my cards last night to see if I could throw a Loam deck together and came across Summer Bloom. It seems like this card could help recover from a devastating dream more quickly, especially with mox diamond in play. It may end up being too circumstancial and slow for use but it could be worth testing, especially for those considering exploration.

Summer Bloom is not bad, but I think most folks would agree that Exploration suits the deck better. And Exploration is sorta on the outs, as Mox Diamond fills the role better still.

WOW!

What are people thinking about Firestorm? Has anyone else tried it? My results are phenominal with this card in the list. Too bad you do need X targets for X damage. Crazy huh?

Firestorm, what's that?

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edit: updated list 11/28/05

//NAME: Land Ho Updated
4 Roar of the Wurm
4 Werebear
4 Wild Mongrel
2 Terravore
3 Life from the Loam
4 Pillage
3 Devastating Dreams
2 Crop Rotation
4 Burning Wish
3 Firestorm
1 Eternal Witness
2 Maze of Ith
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Wasteland
1 Barbarian Ring
3 Tranquil Thicket
3 Forgotten Cave
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
3 Forest
2 Mountain
SB: 1 Life from the Loam
SB: 1 Regrowth
SB: 1 Devastating Dreams
SB: 1 Pyroclasm
SB: 1 Lava Blister
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Renewing Touch
SB: 2 Hull Breach

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I messed with some spot removal, but was never satisfied. That said, Wild Mongrel, Firestorm, and Devastating Dreams are all exeptionally useful cards in this matchup.

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He doesn't want Pyroclasm. He wants Firestorm. He wants 4 of them in the main in fact. The card is insane in this deck. More than anything else, it is what my opponents do not want to see.

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So, nah. Never tried Firestorm. I just mentioned it in almost every post.
It's really tiring - you know, being furniture.

I've been following this thread for a while now, and this is the list that I've come up with...

3 Tranquil Thicket
3 Forgotten Cave
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
4 Wasteland
2 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Mox Diamond

4 Wall of Blossoms/Werebear/Vine Trellis

4 Burning Wish
3 Life from the Loam
3 Devastating Dreams
3 Nostalgic Dreams/Goblin Lore
3 Seismic Assault
4 Roar of the Wurm
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Gamble

SB
1 Life from the Loam
1 Devastating Dreams
1 Nostalgic Dreams/Goblin Lore
1 Wreak Havoc - scepter-chant?...
1 Pyroclasm - for small creatures
1 Breath of Darigaaz - for a bit bigger creatures
1 Shatterstorm - maybe Stax...
1 Fireball - if i have excess lands in play..
1 Meltdown - affinity?...
1 Wing Snare - Reanimated Akroma?...
1 Boiling Seas - Solidarity... if it resolves...
1 Flashfires - any white deck...
1 Tranquility - Enchantress?...
1 Threaten - Reanimator?...
1 Hull Breach - great removal...

I'm currently debating about the Werebear/Blossoms/Trellis slot...

Werebear
PRO - 4/4 once Threshold is achieved, mana-producer
CONS - 1/1 early, not a real aggro answer

Wall of Blossoms
PRO - big blocker, draw a card is good to keep hand big for DDreams
CONS - not a mana producer, can't kill anything

Vine Trellis
PRO - big blocker, mana-producer
CONS - can't kill anything

...And the Goblin Lore/Nostalgic Dreams slot...

Goblin Lore
PROS - Digs really deep, threshold early for the Bear
CONS - Risks getting the cards you need in the yard

Nostalgic Dreams
PROS - Gets dredged cards back to your hand
CONS - need to discard cards first

...I've been testing on MWS, but I can't seem to outweigh one option from another.. Help please? :D

So kicks, how do you like Nostalgiic Dreams? Personally, I did not care for it. I wound up discarding lands and fetching lands back amongst the good stuff. Of course, my builds tend to focus more on the land than the card advantage (making themmore aggor and less combo)

And what about Goblin Lore - Is it any good? It seems to me that with both Gamble and Burning Wish, all the fetch is there. And Goblin Lore is paltry card advantage next to Life from the Loam.

I think I am using that slot for Wild Mongrels. He does an awful lt of things well.

Ok I played like 12 games last night against R/G survival, U/G/B Thresh, and something else... Ill get back to you on that. I only lost I think 2 games. Here is the list I've been QUITE happy with.

4 Tranquil Thicket
4 Forgotten Cave
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Taiga
1 Plateou
4 Wasteland
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Maze of Ith
4 Mox Diamond

3 Anurid Brushhopper
4 Wild Mongrel

4 Burning Wish
3 Life from the Loam
3 Devastating Dreams
2 Seismic Assault
3 Roar of the Wurm
3 Gamble
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Squee, Goblin Boob

SB
1 Life from the Loam
1 Roar of the Wurm
1 Devastating Dreams
1 Regrowth
1 Firebolt
1 Gamble
1 Pyroclasm
1 Hull Breach
1 Shattering Spree
3 Solitary Confinement
3 Tormod's Crypt

Im sure there are 2 things you'll notice right off the bat. 3 colors, and maindecked chalice. This decks match against combo is bad. Very bad. I really dont feel like scooping up game one everytime. There are only 3 Gamble in the deck as your 1cc cards. Running 8 cycle lands and 4 Mox's helps ignore your 1cc curve and play the monster that is Chalice for one. Against Thresh Chalice just wins, stopping your opponent from hittin mongrels and wurms with swords is also nice of course. Chalice for 1 really helps out the burn match too. Drawing multiples later usually isnt an issue thanks to dreams. Mongrel was added because the deck does need to race combo, he seems the best way. It also allows you to come back from Devestating Dreams like a pro, having by far, the biggest beast out. Walls are always a nice play turns 1-2. They block all goblins, white weenies, confidant, meddling mage, and mongoose. They were better with Therapies in the deck but I took out black to keep white. Therapy isnt as good without Academy Rector as well. In the end I decided to cut her, mostly because devestating dreams/gamble/loam is just brokenly good and Id rather focus on that aspect. White is still in the deck however. Which brings me to tech nasty #2.

I have Confinement lock in my sideboard. Chalice is no good? Swap it out. The deck gets the 1 white needed to cast confinement everytime I've needed it too. Im playing 2 additional heaths to help that. Running 6 fetch lands also increases the rate of..

Turn 1: mox, fetch, loam.

..which is the way you always want to start the game.

The look on an opponents face when confinement hits the board is pretty much priceless. Opps you brought in needle instead of naturalize?

Im not sure of my numbers as far as some of the card choices go. Part of me wants more Roar's. Yet sometimes they stay in the hand dead. 3 Is probably the way to go since it makes yard hate even better...

This is my favorite deck. Ill update the list as it changes.

One word: Tabernacle

Im thinking of playing this deck at Syracuse in April. I really want to fine tune my build though.

One card Im really debating is the Wall.

Im not so sure I need/want the wall in the deck. Whether its a Wall o Blossoms or Roots. Something I was looking at instead was Anurid Brushhopper. Im still making my white splash for sideboarded Confinements. Brushopper keeps me aggro against combo players, and he's just ridiculously hard to kill. 2-3 sounds good. What does everyone else think about this?

Also..

Im still maindecking Chalice of the Void. Sometimes Gamble turns to crap mid-late game but it still seems worth it. How necessary are people finding Lightning Bolt. If I go with Brushhopper, taking out walls and bolts that may leave me open to aggro much more. Does anyone swear on their life for bolts? Can I do without bolt/firestorm? If I dont play maindeck CotV then what about Nimble Mongoose over Bolt?

hi! first bane, chalice main is so damn awesome... chalice on 1 always is a thorn in s.o. 's flesh and protects you from gravehate alla crypt and furnace.
I tried your decklist but got confused with the white splash... it sometimes slows me up and I never used armageddon so far.
If you add solitary confinement you still have to draw and not dredge or discard it, so why splash?

Something differnt what about Tinder Wall instead of Wall of Blossoms/Wild Mongrel ?
you could cast a first turn seismic assault and tinder is fast n cheap... but less strong than wall of blossom/wall of roots.
Anyone tried mainboar Scorched Earth?
Maybe the deck's consistence can be advanced if we decrease win conditions and add control... for kill condition:
2 seismic, 2 roars, 1 barbarianring, 4x wishboard, 1 rift(?)

I think one creature kill condition (roar) may be enough because of the loss of creatures through dredg.

control (depends on colourchoice but with RG):
- devasting dreams
- wasteland
- tabernacle at pendrel vale
- maze of ith
- creature removal from seismic, firestorm or wishboard
- wishboard
- scorched earth? (sounds very interesting to me... at least in SB)
... others

some thoughts...
still testing. greez

Bane, I have some questions...
1. You said you tested Firestorm. Did you not like it? While I am not playing this deck these days, I found Firestorm to be just peachy against aggro. I can't believe that you don't even have it in the sideboard. It was just that good.
2. I really like me some Terravores. Have you tried it? It has just unfair synergy with Wild Mongrel and Life from the Loam.
3. I have almost given up on Maze of Ith. It sux vs. almost all the pertinent matchups. I like both Tabernacle and Quicksand better.
4. I have not tried white splash with Confinement, but I may. Do you side out Roars when Confinement comes in?

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Originally Posted by bane_of_the_living

Ok I played like 12 games last night against R/G survival, U/G/B Thresh, and something else... Ill get back to you on that. I only lost I think 2 games. Here is the list I've been QUITE happy with.

4 Tranquil Thicket
4 Forgotten Cave
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Taiga
1 Plateou
4 Wasteland
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Maze of Ith
4 Mox Diamond

3 Anurid Brushhopper
4 Wild Mongrel

4 Burning Wish
3 Life from the Loam
3 Devastating Dreams
2 Seismic Assault
3 Roar of the Wurm
3 Gamble
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Squee, Goblin Boob

SB
1 Life from the Loam
1 Roar of the Wurm
1 Devastating Dreams
1 Regrowth
1 Firebolt
1 Gamble
1 Pyroclasm
1 Hull Breach
1 Shattering Spree
3 Solitary Confinement
3 Tormod's Crypt

Im sure there are 2 things you'll notice right off the bat. 3 colors, and maindecked chalice. This decks match against combo is bad. Very bad. I really dont feel like scooping up game one everytime. There are only 3 Gamble in the deck as your 1cc cards. Running 8 cycle lands and 4 Mox's helps ignore your 1cc curve and play the monster that is Chalice for one. Against Thresh Chalice just wins, stopping your opponent from hittin mongrels and wurms with swords is also nice of course. Chalice for 1 really helps out the burn match too. Drawing multiples later usually isnt an issue thanks to dreams. Mongrel was added because the deck does need to race combo, he seems the best way. It also allows you to come back from Devestating Dreams like a pro, having by far, the biggest beast out. Walls are always a nice play turns 1-2. They block all goblins, white weenies, confidant, meddling mage, and mongoose. They were better with Therapies in the deck but I took out black to keep white. Therapy isnt as good without Academy Rector as well. In the end I decided to cut her, mostly because devestating dreams/gamble/loam is just brokenly good and Id rather focus on that aspect. White is still in the deck however. Which brings me to tech nasty #2.

I have Confinement lock in my sideboard. Chalice is no good? Swap it out. The deck gets the 1 white needed to cast confinement everytime I've needed it too. Im playing 2 additional heaths to help that. Running 6 fetch lands also increases the rate of..

Turn 1: mox, fetch, loam.

..which is the way you always want to start the game.

The look on an opponents face when confinement hits the board is pretty much priceless. Opps you brought in needle instead of naturalize?

Im not sure of my numbers as far as some of the card choices go. Part of me wants more Roar's. Yet sometimes they stay in the hand dead. 3 Is probably the way to go since it makes yard hate even better...

This is my favorite deck. Ill update the list as it changes.

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Well, i definetely dont like the chalice's maindeck. How about a single copy of brawn? I know it sounds horrible but it busts mongrel and roar through chump blockers. Another option is enlightened tutor main, if you are keeping the chalices mb.

@Rambo
Brawn is a great idea. I had a single Anger in for a bit as a gamble target. Playing a mongrel, pitching my hand and swinging for 6 was great. So were angery wurms. Brawn seems a better idea but Anger was helping improve the Grave Shell Scarab considerably. The bad part is the randomly drawn incarnation when I had no discard outlet for it. Mongrel helps but cant always be counted on. Using Therapy on myself sucks ass.


@Finn
I came to the conclusion that Firestorm was only ever good against goblins. There were many times where I didnt have the correct number of targets for damage unless I targeted myself, ouch! The deck already has good game against goblins, so I would definitly sideboard it in multiples if not for my wish board.

I havent tested the Terravores but he seems alot worse turns 1-3 than Wall of Blossoms. The walls still prove very important, especially in conjuction with Devastating Dreams. Wild Mongrel is my MVP at the moment so I cant pull him. I will get around to testing him but probably not for awhile. He seems to be doing good for you tho?

I havent done testing with too many one of lands. I'd like to but Maze/Quicksand/Tabernacle all take up the all too important land drops. Id consider this landtutor path more if I was playing with Explorations. Which I dont own. To utilize that engine a bit more Crop Rotation seems powerful, turn one crop rotate into maze or tabernacle against gobs seems quite strong, altho a timely wasteland could give you nightmares. I'd be playing with one Tabernacle right now if I owned one but those suckers are so hard to track down.

Yes I was usually siding out Roars for Confinement but if you want to go with that trick I recommend going the otherway around for the "opps now im not a confinement deck" trick. Maindeck Confinement and then sideboard it out. Our opponent goes all in with disenchant effects, saves his counters for the confinement that never rears its head, and loses terribly to Roar. I suppose that needs its own testing.

@SeanConnery
Tinder Wall cant block and survive Nimble Mongoose, its also gone when you get the mana out of it as opposed to Wall of Blossoms that draws a card THEN sticks around. Or Wall of Roots which blocks and give you mana each turn. Turn 1 Seismic Assault isnt something Id really want to do. It gives perfect targets for Needles or early disenchants. I really prefer dropping it when I have lethal or very close to.

................................................................................................

The white splash offered little to the engine of the machine. I wont lie, confinement is disgustingly good. So few decks can handle it. I constantly have people siding in Naturalize/Disenchant. This only happened when they saw my white mana, but it was nice to have 4 dead cards in my opponents deck. While Confinement is the nuts, the deck stays so busy trying to keep it afloat that it cant gain the card advantage off loam.

Sometimes a randomly placed counterspell could stop loam from coming back and screw up the confinement lock. Or someone can drop a Meddling Mage and name LftL. Besides that, winning the game in time is also important. Something Solitary Confinement knows nothing of.

My list is alot closer to Sexy_Rectors now. Therapy is amazing with dredge and gets extra use out of walls, especially against decks where walls are useless. Therapy can clear needle, crypt, meddling mage, vial, or counterspells out of your opponents hand, often clearing the way for game winning Dreams. I dont think Eric is playing Roar anymore and I know he doesnt like Mongrels, so his list puts much more faith into Seismic Assault and Scarab. That scares me alittle too much, and Wild Mongrel is just way too good in a loam deck not to play.

Honestly this deck has alot going for it from splashes to card selections. You can maindeck CotV or side it. You can try Dark Confidant, Darkblast, Enlightened Tutor, and so many more great cards. You could play Living Wish over Burning to get access to great lands or great creatures like Flame Tongue, Baloth, Witness, Viridian Shaman, Goblin Pyromancer. The next card Ill be testing is Sensei's Divining Top.

Still infatuated with this deck. Rock on.

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I came to the conclusion that Firestorm was only ever good against goblins. There were many times where I didnt have the correct number of targets for damage unless I targeted myself, ouch! The deck already has good game against goblins, so I would definitly sideboard it in multiples if not for my wish board.

I havent tested the Terravores but he seems alot worse turns 1-3 than Wall of Blossoms. The walls still prove very important, especially in conjuction with Devastating Dreams. Wild Mongrel is my MVP at the moment so I cant pull him. I will get around to testing him but probably not for awhile. He seems to be doing good for you tho?

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It seems to me that we are both approaching the same goal from different angles. You have 6 walls for defense + benefits. I have 2 Terravores and 4 Firestorms pulling roughly the same duty. Where your stuff seems more utility oriented, mine seems more aggression oriented. I had always considered this to be a control design, but the way I have it set up it is particularly aggressive. Games are rarely more than 5 or 6 turns if the deck is performing. I wonder which matchups run better/worse for the two strategies.

I noticed that too. To tell the truth I cut Firestorm only because of its terrible use against combo decks and white based control. This deck has a weakness to combo without the black splash. Firestorm did severly improve games against hordes though.

What seem to be your worst match ups? Im having trouble against Rifter because of their Rifts. Duh. Also because of their cycling cards, mostly dragon. They help them find mana post Dreams. I was considering Winter Orb to help against them.

What are your thoughts on Sensei's Divining Top?

I have found 1 wish target Haunting Echoes in the board cures some of your Rifter ailments. I understand that probably isn't going to help out with your current g/r version. Perhaps this is even more reason to play GRB version closer to Sexy Rector's og list.

I went 3-2 at my weekly tournament Sunday.

First round I played against red Thresh. I know this is one of my stores better Thresh players and I expect a tough match. Things look good for me as we trade counters for spells and I have Loam going. The only problems is I'm a good 4 dredges in with no cycle lands. With no draw engine off my loam dredging it back looses me card advantage, he slowly kills me. Game 2 things look good for me and I get loam wastelock going. He drops a Werebear and gets to Thresh. I see no Devestating Dreams and the bear beats me to death. I wouldve been fine if he didn't play 3 Tormod's Crypts..

Next game is against White Thresh. I play some mid-late game Devestating Dreams and kill him with a very late game Seismic Assault. The next game goes the same.

Next game is against Angel Stompy with a blue splash. Its Tivadar from The Source!

First game starts looking good for him with a Serendib Efreet. He beats me up with it and counters a couple spells. Equips Sword of Fire and Ice. I can't deal with it and die. The next game I dont remember but I won. Third game goes late, things start looking great for me, he's mana screwed. Then he starts coming back with 2 Serendibs and I need to Dreams to wipe his board. We both go to topdeck mode and I get Loam going again. He plays unmorphed angels for a couple turns and I wish for Firebolt to kill them, I Ghastly Demise another then he drops sword and white knight. I wish for Regrowth, get back a Ghastly Demise and I swing with a Mishras Factory for the win. Sorry Tivadar!

Next opponent is one of the better players in the room. He plays a turn one Bird's of Paradise, I forget what he's playing and I make a turn 2 Burning Wish for Cave In. He drops Survival, damn... I get loam going and play Devastating Dreams ftw. He gets a Loxodon Heirarch out but it cant stop a huge mongrel and a wurm. Game two I board in copies 2 and 3 of Darkblast and I kill his birds off. I open game 3 with turn one land, double mox, mongrel, gamble to find lftl. I waste a couple lands with wastelock and hes stuck on one forest for a while. When he starts coming back I dreams him for the win.

Solidarity.. I lost to this deck last week. This time Justin's playing it. (niknight)
Game one we go to turn 4 or 5 and he tries to combo off without High Tide, he fizzles and I win. Games two and three he goes off on turn 4 before Devestating Dreams resolves. I dont make top 4 with a 3-2 record. Bummer.

Props to..
Gamble, for giving me 6/7 great gambles. This tutor is god in this deck.
Mishra's Factory, for recurring mongoose killerz and therapy thrulls.
Devestating Dreams, for winning me EVERY game it resolved in.
Wild Mongrel, for dealing over 50 points of damage over the course of the tournament.
Darkblast, for killing tons of shit and dredging into Roars.

I'd also like to express sorrow over a few dead wish targets.

Combo just seems to be a terrible matchup for this deck. I think I can accept that tho. Duress and Therapy didnt really help against Solidarity and taking them out gives me more toys to play with. I might just add more cards to aggro the deck out. Maybe Ill try to switch to white and use Anurid Brushhoper. Or take out Duress/Therapy for Senseis Divining Top. I often dredged Devestating Dreams or Mongrel off the top of my deck instead of getting them, and often had mana to invest to look at the top 3 cards.

Top sounds like the way to go.

@Specimen Echoes sounds awsome and Ill try it if I stick with the black splash.

I would like to note, there seemed to be NO liability in playing 3 colors. I never had improper color mana needed for a single thing. Not even to cycle a land.

Bane, I thought you already were playing White instead of Black. If you stay in Black, you really should try out Eternal Witness with Volrath's Stronghold. But I, too gave up on Black as my answer to combo. It seems that the High Tide matchup is a bit hopeless unless you have Chalices.

You don't need to lose to Crypts. Acknowledge that you are beholden to your graveyard and put 4 Pithing Needles in the sideboard.

Also, I don't see what Anurid Brushhopper brings to the deck that can't be accomplished better elsewhere. Do I need to be educated?

I want to play this Deck at Saturday at a Local Shop Tournament.
The Meta will be 80% gro and 20% Goblins I think.
Don't tell me "Play this instead of ~this~ because it will rock the Meta" I just want to test the Deck ;)

This is my List
// Lands
3 Tranquil Thicket
2 Barren Moor
3 Forgotten Cave
1 Badlands
1 Mishra's Factory
2 Taiga
1 Swamp
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Wasteland
1 Forest
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Mountain
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Volrath's Stronghold

// Creatures
1 Grave-Shell Scarab
3 Wall of Blossoms
4 Wild Mongrel
1 Eternal Witness

// Spells
2 Seismic Assault
4 Burning Wish
4 Mox Diamond
3 Life from the Loam
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Gamble
2 Roar of the Wurm
3 Devastating Dreams

// Sideboard
SB: 1 Hull Breach
SB: 1 Perish
SB: 1 Life from the Loam
SB: 1 Pyroclasm
SB: 1 Cabal Therapy
SB: 1 Gamble
SB: 1 Roar of the Wurm
SB: 1 Devastating Dreams
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Chalice of the Void

What do you think? Can this List turn into a Tournament-Winning List? ;)