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That's not a bad idea in my opinion: for the same mana tracker threatens to draw even more cards while adding meat to the board, and the interaction with vex is insane. Plus he is the best baiter ever for stp. We lose a tiny bit of life loss which is nice outside non rhino builds. I might try one more tracker for a truth, but I'll keep a singleton sylvan scrying that has been doing wonders.Quote:
Originally Posted by Echelon
If you sacrifice Clues to Smokestack, do you still get the +1/+1 counters? #GWStaxBrewingQuote:
Originally Posted by rubblekill
I have to play more with Tracker and see, but Truths isn't a bad card, and neither is Sylvan. Too many good cards, too few slots, I say.
Hope everyone had a good time.
And for Christ sakes, post your goddamn lists from the GP. I only have so much bathroom time and I can't waste it scrolling back for lists :cool:
The Clues just need to be sacrificed. The how doesn't matter. Be it via activating the Clues ability, Arcbound Ravager or Smokestack, Tracker triggers regardless.
Clues dying from Pernicious Deed does not give Tracker counters.
@rubble: Not just with Vet Ex. Topdecking a fetchland has never been so good (and you know how many of those I run).
Indeed. I have to say that without 4 rhinos we lose some ground against decent delver hands, so it would be nice (in theory, but I have to test a second tracker yet) to have CA on legs w/o life loss. I always board out truths against delver and similar decks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Echelon
E: I have never lost a burn match with 4 rhinos, with the more potent version it seems like that could be a semi problematic matchup.
I'd be running 4 Siege Rhino & 3 Tireless Tracker :wink:.
Depends on your meta. Online 4 rhino might very well not be the optimal choice; I'm still testing on that though.
Nic Fit is subpar in my meta at the moment anyways. It's a very good meta for Manaless Dredge though, people are hardly playing graveyard hate or fast combo.
Alright, report time. The list:
4 Veteran Explorer
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Eternal Witness
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Meren of Clan Nel Toth
1 Master of the Wild Hunt
1 Siege Rhino
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thragtusk
1 The Gitrog Monster
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Path to Exile
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Vindicate
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Toxic Deluge
2 Painful Truths
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sylvan Library
3 Bayou
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
4 Verdant
4 Heath
3 Forest
2 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Karakas
1 Phyrexian Tower
sb::
2 Thoughtseize
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Gaze of Granite
2 Pithing Needle
1 Celestial Purge
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Krosan Grip
Basically the same thing I've been playing for a while now. As much as I wanted the Tsunamis, I basically came to the conclusion that they're only /really/ good vs Miracles, and I wanted a more flexible card, so I swapped them for Needles. Golgari Charm made way for Gaddock Teeg -- GPs are always shitshows with random combo decks everywhere, so despite my hatred for Teeg, I begrudgingly decided that I probably just flat needed him for the weekend.
We get to Columbus on Friday and do some dealering...I picked up foil Thought-Knots because colorless version, and re-bought foil Birthing Pods so I can play around with that after Columbus. Pretty stoked about that. My car includes myself, my roommate (BUG Pod), one of my locals (BUG Control, basically Consecrated Monster), and another of my locals (Chaos Elves). We're all pretty wiped out from the drive, which, while it wasn't too bad at 5.5/6 hours, was bad enough that we decide to head back to the hotel and crash. I am introduced to the marvels of Sonic on the way back -- we don't have any within two hours, so I'd only ever heard things about them. I got a frozen limeade that was absolutely absurdly heavenly.
Anyway.
I'm informed that most of the Trial winning decks // decks present in the Trials were Miracles and Eldrazi (shocker, I know). I debated trying to make room somewhere in my 76 for Baneslayer, but there's really just no room at the moment, so I said fuck it and went with what I had.
Day 1:
We get there right around 8, and the player meeting actually starts basically on time. I have no byes, so I've got a long day ahead of me.
Round 1: Ian with Lands
My opponent and I both mull to 6, with him on the play. I keep a close 1-lander and scry nonland to the bottom. I have Therapy and a pair of Zeniths, along with a pair of Paths, but only a Swamp for a land. He leads with an Exploration. Oh boy. I Therapy him and name Gamble, hitting one and leaving him with just lands in hand. We stall for a couple turns -- I have yet to draw another land, and he has yet to draw anything resembling business. I finally rip a land and go Exploring myself. I whiff on the Therapy, partially because I forgot they play Crop Rotation (which he had one copy of in hand). He Crop Rots for his combo. I stall for it two turns with the Paths, but I can't find any kind of more permanent answer, or even a Decay for the Exploration to make it take him another turn.
-Elspeth, -Garruk, -Dromoka, -Deluge, -Tracker, -1 Deed, -Meren, -Gitrog, -1 P.Truth
+2 Needle, +2 Seize, +3 Surgical, +Grip, +Purge
Game two I'm fuckin ready for his Merit Lage shit. I have a Path and a Surgical in hand, ready to go. I blow up his Exploration with a Decay, but can't find any pressure. He double Crop-Rots into combo, but doesn't activate it because he smells that I have an answer. He draws for his turn, shrugs, and slams Chalice@1. I die the next turn.
0-2 / 0-1.
Round 2: David with Eldrazi DnT
This guy was a fairly slow player, partially because I think he was very unfamiliar with the format. He was playing basically Death and Taxes, but he was running Mishra's Factories and Eldrazi Displacers. I win the die roll, but mull to 6. My hand is kind of meh, but it gets the job done. He declines a Veteran trigger even though when I explain the card, I say "we both." Cool. I play out a Deed, and he commits a couple more cards into it to I guess force me to use it? Or just is bad? I don't know. I happily Deed for 5 and take out everything, and then untap into Dromoka while he doesn't heave Karakas. Dromoka actually goes the distance and I end the game at 37 even after Painful Truths. Neat.
-Gitrog, -Dromoka, -Meren
+Deluge, +Gaze, +Grip
He aggros me down pretty quickly this game, but I stabilize at 4 after baiting him. I played my opponent a bit -- I left myself wide open with mana untapped and a Deed in play, but no board presence at 4 life. He has a Mishra's Factory and a Sword of Fire/Ice in play. Sure enough, he activates and suits up, and I break the deed and get everything. As I suspected, he didn't know that Factory would die to Deed, which is from a much older, meaner time in Magic before "nonland" existed. After that was cleared out, he runs out of gas and I murder him.
2-2 / 1-1
Round 3: Zach with Casual Demigod of Revenge.dec
Every GP, I think I play against a random casual deck once. It's fine: they're nice people that are from the area and are just there with friends, usually. Such was the case for this guy -- it was his first ever actual Magic event (period, not even GP....just event). I'm thinking to myself "great, he's probably playing Oops and I'm just going to die." As it turned out, he wasn't on an actual legacy deck...revealed when he played a Sunken Hollow (UB Tango dual from standard). He had Brainstorms, Ponders, Counterspells, and some other real cards. He also had Dark Ritual and Buried Alive, and removal spells in the form of Doom Blade, and roadblocks in Nighthawk. He gets out a Demigod fairly fast in g1, and we trade blows for a while before I finally find a way to kill the stupid thing. I fade the final draw step and then kill him. If he'd drawn another Demigod, though, I would've died.
-2 P.Truths, -1 Deed, -1 Decay
+3 Surgicals, +Purge
Game two is somehow even closer. I stall out for a while and just draw lands, but I have Meren in play being a 3/4. He gets a Demigod, which is slightly bigger than a 3/4, but I Path it. He Duresses away another removal spell, and plays a second Demigod, which I think I Purged? I end the game at 5 life, but he dies.
Scary shit.
4-2 / 2-1
Round 4: Jamie with DnT
We chat for a bit before the match, but he's a sloppy shuffler and flashes me a Flickerwisp. Yay, food. As he gets his hand, he flashes me an Aether Vial. Uh, k. I normally feel bad about taking advantage of stuff like that -- in fact, at Mythic, I usually go out of my way to play honorably and will purposefully miss on Therapies when I accidentally get information in such a way. This being a Grand Prix, however, I feel compelled to take advantage of the situation. I win the die roll, and 'blind' hit Vial, leaving him with 2 Stoneforges, a Port, a Waste, and a Plains. He opts to Waste my Bayou, which is annoying because it strands me on a Plains with a Zenith in hand. He Stoneforges up a Jitte instead of Batterskull, in case I Therapy it away. We back and forth for a while after I hit a green source finally (and he actually accepts the trigger). Master of the Wild Hunt eventually comes down after he's out of gas, and wins the game singlehandedly (which will be a recurring theme).
Boarding is the same as the prior DnT player.
This game is crazy. All I have written down is Master/Sylvan ftw, but the life total changes are numerous. I remember that Garruk Relentless flipped, and Master of the Wild Hunt got online with a deathtouch wolf out, which made him actually have to StP the wolf token before playing Brimaz. Unfortunately, he draws Karakas to go with Brimaz, which is mildly annoying. I eventually force him to bounce it, and then pop a Top to draw a Therapy to get rid of it. I stabilize at 5 life and eventually beat him down. Great match, for sure.
6-2 / 3-1
Round 5: Sam with Elves
I'm feeling a bit better after my round 1 Lands obliteration. Naturally, that means it's time to run into Elves.
This guy is a spicy meatball. I swing in with a Vet, and he blocks with Deathrite Shaman. I h ave a Deluge in hand, so I'm totally fine with this. I then Therapy him and name Glimpse, but miss. He has 2 Symbiotes (annoying), Nettle Sentinel, Visionary, Hoof, and Heritage Druid. He uses the Symbiotes to rebuild after my Deluge, and then Cradle into Cradle into Hoof kills me.
-3 legends, -1 Trop, -Tracker, -E.Wit, -2 Truths, -Vindicate
+2 Seize, +2 Needles, +Gaze, +Deluge, +2 Canonist, +Teeg
Game two I make a pretty bad mistake -- I overvalued Teeg in the matchup severely, which comes from my hatred of Teeg and thus never using him. I know he's fine vs Elves, but I thought he was better than he actually is. After he blocked my Vet, again, I Therapied him naming Abrupt Decay, knowing that I was going to be playing Teeg. He has Glimpse, 2 Cradles, Symbiote, and Quirion. He glimpses WAY the fuck off, and ends his turn with a hardcast Progenitus. I fail to draw a Deluge for my turn, and I'm super dead. My mistake, but thankfully (spoilers) the only game Teeg loses me on the weekend.
6-4 / 3-2
Round 6: Byron with Imperial Painter
He wins the die roll, and goes (foil unhinged) Mountain, pass. I vaguely remember seeing a foil Painter deck running around a couple tables down from me a few rounds ago, and I thought that the guy and his playmat were the same person. As such, I fetch for Basic Swamp, and Therapied him naming Painter, which hit. He has a Blood Moon, an E.Bridge, a Great Furnace, a Pyroblast, and an E.Tutor. I have removal for everything else he tries to do, and I have a pile of basics for his Blood Moon. Gitrog comes down and swiftly ends the game.
-1 top, -3 legends, -deluge, -elspeth, -tracker, -2 p.truths, -thrag
+3 surgicals, +2 needles, +purge, +grip, +gaze, +2 seize
I have a pile of discard and removal, but little pressure. He has 2 Pyroblasts and a REB in hand, and I'm mildly terrified of losing my manabase to blasts, so I try to keep him off Painter as much as possible. He draws a Recruiter on three subsequent turns -- I'm able to discard two of them, but he just plays the third immediately and grabs a Painter. I don't have a discard spell available at the moment, so I play Deed with 2 mana open and hope to dissuade him from casting it. Sure enough, he holds off since it's his only real gas. This allows me to draw another Thoughtseize, take his Painter, and then Surgical them. He Tutors for a Grindstone a couple turns later, which I Decay and then also Surgical. Sigarda ends the game shortly thereafter.
8-4 / 4-2
Round 7: Chris with DnT (again)
He flashes white cards as I sit down, but I can't see anything clearly so I assume he's probably DnT but could be Miracles. Sure enough, he's on DnT. He deploys a board state while I build mana. I deed away his life, then untap into Elspeth, who single-handedly beats a Revoker (naming Top) wielding a Jitte. Sigarda comes in off of Zenith and ends the game.
Usual DnT board.
Game two is taken over by Master of the Wild Hunt and Garruk after spot removal and discard. He never gets close to having a board state, as those two keep everything under control.
10-4 / 5-2
Round 8: John with Deathblade
My opponent mulls to 5, but wins the die roll. He leads off with a Deathrite, and then Pierces my turn 2 Therapy (no vet) off of a Tundra. I, meanwhile, am getting slightly moist because I haven't played vs Deathblade in literal years and that matchup was both great for us and also fun. Sure enough, he shows me a True-Name off my flashback a couple turns later. We grind for a while, and I emerged victorious after Elspeth and Sigarda. Dromoka threatened to take over the game, but he topdecked a Karakas for her before she could swing :(
-1 Truths, -Gitrog, -Meren, -1 Path
+Gaze, +Deluge, +Grip, +Sorin LoI
Quick note on why I did what I did here: Deathblade in particular is governed by mana advantage. You really just want to have a billion lands in play because you need to be able to have big, overwhelming turns later on -- play+crack Deed + play a 4+ drop threat, in particular. Gitrog came out for that reason. Meren is not going to work vs Deathblade -- they have StP, potentially Path out of the board, Karakas, AND Deathrite Shaman. They have actually everything that is good vs her. I shaved a Truths and a Path because of the nature of their deck. They get in a lot of chip shots, and can push large swings of unblockable damage suddenly on the backs of True Name and Lingering Souls. I didn't want to cut all of either, but I didn't want the full count, for sure.
Therapy obliterates his hand in g2, and Krosan Grip eats his Batterskull. He Brainstorms three times to catch back up, and eventually ends up Verdicting something in a 1-for-1...I think Master? Rhino comes down afterward as the best threat vs them -- Trample goes through True-Name, which was his best draw at the point.
12-4 / 6-2 -- locked for Day 2!
Round 9: Ross with Metalworker MUD
Yes, this is the picture from the GP that's been going around on Twitter and Reddit, which was from game 2.
Game one he plays Cloudpost, go. I know NOTHING good comes of this. I eventually Therapy him and see 2 Lodestones, 3Ball, and an Ancient Tomb. He draws a billion Cloud- and Glimmer- posts, and goes up to 40 while having functionally infinite mana. He lands a Sundering Titan, which savages my manabase. Unfortunately for him, I have 2 Vets in play which double block and return me to functional mana. I dig for a couple turns but never manage to find a token generator to block the Titan forever. I do get a dude out to block lethal for another turn, but he draws Staff of Domination and taps my creature to kill me.
-2 Top, -2 Painful Truths
+2 Thoughtseize, +Grip, +Sorin LoI
Game two is nuts, as you can probably tell from the picture. We both make a bunch of mana, but he's constrained by a large portion of his coming from a Grim Monolith, which slows the development of his enormous things. I exacerbate this by blowing up the Metalworker he tries to play. Gitrog comes down with Karakas untapped to specific play around Karn Liberated. He plays Karn Liberated, targets my Gitrog, and for some godforsaken reason I say okay. I blame it being round 9 / hour 10 of basically nonstop magic. Master of the Wild Hunt comes down to pressure Karn, while Garruk Relentless flips off of killing another Metalworker, and then sacs a Vet to tutor for Sigarda. I Decay his Monolith to keep him off big mana, and finally kill Karn with Sigarda after he eats like 3 of my cards. Anyway, these things happened in some order. Sorin LoI comes down to generate more pressure and threaten to ult. He Forgemasters up Staff of Nin to shoot down a Deathtouch Wolf token that was swinging at him and start drawing more cards, but I'm way too far ahead on board, and he can't recover.
Game three he goes Cloudpost go, while I Thoughtseize him and see Cloud, Vesuva, Waste, Metalworker, Greaves, and Chalice. I take the Chalice, because I have a Therapy in my hand and he can't get to the Metalworker next turn without ripping a Grim Monolith. He Vesuvas his post and passes back, which lets me Therapy out his Metalworker, seeing that he's drawn a Cavern of Souls. I get out a Vet, but I don't care about anything in his hand and I don't really need the ramp, so I just start swinging. He draws and plays a Trinisphere. I get Master of the Wild Hunt in play (from hand, not Zenith) and just start swinging. I have two Deeds in my hand and could clean up all of his random artifacts, but my plan at this point is to hold up Path to Exile in case he draws something that he can put his Greaves on, and just let Master of the Wild Hunt win me the game. He rips and plays a wurmcoil at some point, but I have the Path ready for it. Master ends the game two swings later while he continues flooding out.
14-5 / 7-2
I will not say that I was not incredibly lucky to win that match. Other than this match, I basically won and lost everything I was "supposed to" on Day 1. This thing, though, is one of our worst matchups and I managed to claw my way through it. Huzzah!
Day 2:
This is my first GP Day 2 -- I'd gone 6-3, losing in the last round, at a lot of previous GPs...but that wasn't a Day 2 record until recently, so that didn't help. The irony that I made Day 2 finally with an actual 7-2 which would have been good enough before the rules change was not lost on me. We get there nice and early, and I settle in for the first round at 9am.
Round 10: Paul Cheon with ANT
I'm apprehensive about this match, because Paul Cheon is obviously a very good player. He's also almost always on fair decks, I believe -- I know he was streaming RUG Delver a couple days before the GP, so I'm hoping that he's on something fair. Unfortunately, he decided to bring a gun to a knife fight for this GP.
I win the die roll, and keep a hand that's great vs Delver -- Top, Path, lands, threats, etc. What it doesn't have is a Therapy, which bites me in the ass when he Infernal Tutors for Dark Ritual on turn 2 and passes back. I desperately look with Top, but can't find a Therapy and die on his turn 3.
-2 Decay, -3 Path, -Sigarda, -Elspeth, -Meren, -Gitrog, -Sylvan, -Garruk
+Teeg, +2 Canonist, +2 Needle, +3 Surgical, +Deluge, +2 Thoughtseize
He's on ANT, so I'm pretty sure he's going to have Empty the Warrens, which means Deed and Deluge stay in (and 2nd Deluge comes in).
Game two I get him GOOD. He's on 6 and I'm on the play. I blind Therapy hitting 2x Dark Ritual, leaving him with a Delta and 2 Petals. He plays his stuff and passes the turn. I play a land and ship back. He draws, thinks, fetches, and Therapies me. In response, I Surgical his Deltas, which nets another one out of his hand. I don't think he was expecting my mana denial approach to the matchup. I drew runner runner Canonist x2, and Zenith out Tireless Tracker to finish things up. I didn't want to show Teeg, and I knew he hadn't boarded in Massacre anyway from when I went through his deck with Teeg. He only had Decays and Chain of Vapor as answers. He did find a Decay for one Canonist before he died, but couldn't get rid of the second.
Game three I mull looking for interaction, and his hand was unfortunately very strong, consisting of Echoing Truth, Dark Petition, Ad Nauseum, Brainstorm, Delta, I.Tutor. I have to set off a Veteran to get more interaction, which lets him grab lands and get in two Brainstorms -- he Brainstormed in response to the trigger, and then again at my end step if I'm recalling correctly. He tanked for a while to figure out a Past in Flames line for the kill, but found it and I didn't get another turn. Zenith was one turn away for Teeg, which would've stalled him since he shuffled away Echoing Truth.
At least I got a game off of him!
15-7, 7-3.
Round 11: Phillip with Chaos Elves
I read him as either a Delver player or an Elves player when I sit down. I'm hoping that I finally get to play vs Delver. Naturally, he wins the die roll and leads Forest->Llanowar Elves.
Fuck.
He kills me with double Nettle Sentinel beatdown in g1 while I'm unable to find a Deed despite looking with Top for multiple turns. I even Truths to get deeper, despite that increasingly his clock by a turn -- no dice.
Same elves sideboarding.
Game two I have the sweepers for his nonsense, and I get to go off with Vet/Therapy. Two sweepers later, Elspeth comes down, pluses 3 times, and then he dies.
Game three I flood out super hard. His clock is anemic at best, swinging with a couple Elves per turn after I Therapied the shit out of him and he Thoughtseized the shit out of me. I draw a bunch of lands in a row and never do anything. I even baited his Pithing Needle early by not cracking a Verdant Catacombs in response, which elicited a name on that instead of Pernicious Deed when I had a hand full of lands anyway :(
Any sweeper or any creature / Zenith, and I would've won this match. -_-
16-9, 7-4.
We are the Walking Dead.
Round 12: John with Mana Dredge
He wins the die roll and leads Gemstone Mine, Careful Study. The jig is up. He vomits a bunch into his graveyard, but I have a Tower/Vet start, which eats 3 of his Bridges. Master of the Wild Hunt comes down and walls out his Ichorids (token blocked one, then activate Master before damage to shoot the second). He concedes with a small number of cards left in his deck and no way to win the game left.
I neglected to write down my boarding on this match because it was that crazy.
Game two he mulls to 5 and I'm feeling good. He's able to ditch a Golgari Thug off of a Putrid Imp but has no other dredger, so I surgical it and then Decay the Putrid Imp. I also surgical his Bridge from Belows. He assembles an army of Narcomoebas and beats me to death slowly while I draw seven lands in a row even despite fetching. After dropping to 1 life, I Top into Dromoka and slam her. She stabilizes the game for two turns before he manages to Dread Return Ashen Rider to get rid of her. I Path the Ashen Rider, but am now faced with two Ichorids a turn while being at 5 life. I Top into Deed, which buys me a turn -- and then Top into Deed AGAIN, which buys me another turn. He has two cards left in his library at this point, and only has one more swing's worth of black creatures for Ichorid left. I needed to see any creature or Zenith, the third Deed, a Path to Exile, or the third Surgical. I failed to see any of these things, and after scaring him by tapping Top on his attack step, we were off to game 3.
Sadly, in my game my deck decided it didn't feel like playing Magic anymore. He came out decently strong and I drew one non-land spell the entire game after shuffling the spots off of my cards between games 2-3 -- didn't matter, still super flooded.
17-11, 7-5, drop.
Could have technically stayed in and tried to farm planeswalker points from wins // try to get the 10-5 pro point, but realistically there's plenty of opportunities for more planeswalker points, and I don't give a shit about pro points anyway, so I'd sooner have hit the road home that much earlier in the day and not get in at like 1am like I was originally expecting: silver linings.
Summary / Thoughts
-) I never played against Miracles, Delver, Shardless, or Eldrazi. I mean, I understand that GP metas are varied and all, but never playing against one of the Big 4 (any of which I would've liked to have seen, except maybe Miracles) feels super weird.
-) Gitrog underperformed severely, but that's almost entirely matchup based. The /only/ good matchup for him the entire weekend was MUD, where he is admittedly very powerful.
-) Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Master of the Wild Hunt were the MVPs by a lot. Both of those cards are hilariously unreasonable. Play them.
-) I am REALLY FUCKING TIRED of Elves and Lands. I was actually joking with my friend Henry Decker (creator of Big Red) that I should just build his deck and shit on those particular matchups for a while for catharsis. He shrugged and replied that he's never dropped a match to Elves. Ever. Must be fucking nice.
-) Painful Truths feels awkward and weird. There are times where it is amazing. There are also times where it's just not something that I want at all. I'm starting to think that 1 Truths is probably correct....2 is likely one copy too many. It's possible the second should be in the sideboard for Shardless and Miracles. I don't know. It's something I've got my eye on, for sure.
-) Tracker pulled his weight, although I didn't say much about him in the report. He usually came in, made 2-3 clues, and then got removed, which is completely fine.
-) Meren went busted a couple times, but overall had a rough weekend for the same reason Gitrog did.
-) Roommate (BUG Pod) went 3-4-drop, local on Consecrated went 1-4-drop, I believe. I don't remember their matchups specifically. Roommate did get 2nd in a side event with basically the same list, though, so there's that. His only loss was to Lam Phan on Landstill, which is probably a thing that is just going to happen.
-) PES is still bad at running events, but they didn't do AS BADLY as they have at points in the past. I was very apprehensive about Columbus being a shitshow of an event, but it was surprisingly smooth considering PES.
-) Roommate was going to use prize wall tickets on the shirt that I wanted to help me out with that. Naturally, after rotting in boxes for the entirety of the last three months or whatever it's been out for, THIS is the gp where they sell out of them on Saturday and don't have any left by the time he makes it up with 4x the required tickets in hand. Fuck. My. Life.
-) Was great hanging out with Jbone and Firepaw as always, also tracked down TTX and chatted with him a bit. Wasn't able to find anyone else, sadly.
Conclusion:
I don't think I'm going to be able to make it to EE4 for the legacy half, but there are a couple guys from down the road that are planning on going to vintage on Sunday and hopefully will be able to swing up and grab me for that....so at least there's that. Due to the proximity of Columbus and just summer being summer, nobody wants to go down for both days except me, but I'm a lonely degenerate, so.
If I was going to be able to make it to EE-legacy, I would likely run back my list with just a couple changes. I would probably cut Painful Truths #2 for something else -- potentially the Sorin from the sideboard to open a slot there. Gitrog might become Thragtusk #2, but Meren is staying for sure.I do definitely think Gitrog has the power level and the pedigree to be a Nic Fit staple, but there's SO. MANY. KARAKASES. right now, and Dromoka / Meren are both more important in their specific roles, I feel. I'd probably swap a couple things around in the sideboard, but I'm not sure what. The sideboard right now feels like I /can/ beat basically anything except lands if I draw well, but I need to draw well in order to actually win. It might be that there is a better way to construct the sideboard with more high-impact cards as opposed to the lower-impact cards that you need to draw multiple of to win.
I'm probably going to shelve this deck for a little while and mess around with some Pod variants, some combo variants, and some colorless variants, as I'd mentioned prior to Columbus. We've got a couple months to figure out if there's anything exceptionally solid in those three categories before Eternal Weekend, which will be my next "major" legacy event.
Well, I MIGHT be up at SCG Worchester in a month, but we'll see about that because it's contingent on other people going, as always.
Anyway, I've been typing for about two hours now, so I'm going to end here. That was my Columbus -- I'm sure the others will have reports coming soon as well. Did anyone do well at Prague? I was surprised I didn't hear anything from the Euros over the weekened.
Oh dear...Quote:
The Clues just need to be sacrificed. The how doesn't matter. Be it via activating the Clues ability, Arcbound Ravager or Smokestack, Tracker triggers regardless.
@Arianrhod Nice work, looks great.
I've ended up cutting both my Truths for Tireless Tracker #2 and #3.
I need to find a Master of the Wild Hunt and an Elspeth Sun's Champion, I guess.
Excellent report Arian, I really liked it.
I agree on Painful Truths. I board the card out every time, unless I'm playing miracles or shardless. The fact is that online they are the most represented decks.
I have not played Meren since that last time we discussed about it, and really I have not missed her so far. Barely playable card against miracles and shardless.
Gitrog. Still testing the card but I have not cast it enough to express anything about him.
Big Elspeth. The card is nuts. I think I'll keep playing her.
E: How are you liking Gaze of Granite?
So it was you! :DQuote:
Round 9: Ross with Metalworker MUD
Yes, this is the picture from the GP that's been going around on Twitter and Reddit, which was from game 2.
Game one he plays Cloudpost, go. I know NOTHING good comes of this. I eventually Therapy him and see 2 Lodestones, 3Ball, and an Ancient Tomb. He draws a billion Cloud- and Glimmer- posts, and goes up to 40 while having functionally infinite mana. He lands a Sundering Titan, which savages my manabase. Unfortunately for him, I have 2 Vets in play which double block and return me to functional mana. I dig for a couple turns but never manage to find a token generator to block the Titan forever. I do get a dude out to block lethal for another turn, but he draws Staff of Domination and taps my creature to kill me.
Just to let you know about a rule. Cause I don't know if you know, but obviously your opponnent didn't knew it.
When multi-blocking, if the blocked creature doesn't have trample, it's controller can choose to put all combat damage on only one creature if wanted (activating only one of your vet in your report for the exemple).
I think Painful Truths is a sideboard card, not a maindeck card in this deck.
Alrighty so I managed 3 actual wins on Day 1 (thanks to round 1 bye). Total of ZERO delver or other "fair" decks which was annoying. Felt like I was siding in/out 10+ cards most every match.
Here was my list:
4 Verdant
4 Windswept
2 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Plains
2 Bayou
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Taiga
1 Karakas
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Arbor
4 Vet
2 DRS
1 Tracker
1 E Wit
1 Thrun
1 Meren
1 Thragtusk
1 Sigarda
3 SFM
1 BKS
1 Jitte
1 SoFaI
4 GSZ
3 Top
3 Path to Exile
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Deed
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Duress
side:
2 From the Ashes
2 Slaughter Games
1 Teeg
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Duress
1 Thoughtseize
2 Abeyance
1 Golgari Charm
1 Toxic Deluge
I wanted to try Thrun, thinking that they guy is like a mini-Sigarda and that equipping him would be sweet. Hardly saw him all day, and boarded out very often since he wouldn't shine in my matches.
These will probably be really short. I've no idea how some of you get such good detail after playing your matches. I try to write out notes afterward but am too focused on the game to do much besides life totals during it.
Round 2 - Eldrazi
Game 1 I get an early Veteran and Cabal Therapy for TKS which gets a hit. He floods out quite a bit and it gives me time to Top filter and land a Thragtusk and the game is over shortly after that.
Game 2 he lands Chalice on 1 and then proceeds to land TKS and Endbringer which threaten me. I try to land Meren and DRS to stabilize but it is too late.
Game 3 my opening hand is this beautiful 7: Path, Path, Meren, Vet, Fetch, Swamp, Phyrexian Tower. This gives me Meren on turn 2, Vet back to hand. 8 mana available on turn 3, and he lands TKS which I path but he takes the Green Sun out of my hand. When I proceed to untap, sac a dude, swing into an open board with Meren, return the creature to play end of turn, he concedes. I would have been able to just rack up experience counters for quite a while.
WIN
Round 3 - Storm (ANT I believe)
Game 1 he goes off turn 3.
Game 2 I keep a hand capable of Slaughter Games turn 3 (or at least I think). Realize I have no black source shortly afterward. He goes off turn 3 again.
I need to get better at mulligans and having discard/earlier interaction. Made me wonder if Slaughter Games is a bit of a trap vs Storm (and it may be general consensus that it is too slow).
LOSS
Round 4 - Sneak and Show
Game 1 he has a quick show and tell into Grisel which ends things quickly
Game 2 I get some discard going on him but he is able to Brainstorm and hide, then show and tell into Grisel again, which I'm able to Path successfully. He then proceeds to play out Mentor (off of a Tundra) and use all the cantrips drawn from Grisel to create an army. I'd boarded out Decays and Deeds, so that was it for me.
I've no idea how to win this matchup. Lost to it 3 times over the weekend, don't think I ever won a single game.
LOSS
Round 5 - Elves
Game 1 I don't have discard or early sweeper, and he combos off turn 3.
Game 2 I have early vets and then proceed to draw all 4 of them. I have a deed in hand but only a few lands. Jitte on a Vet, and I swing in like an idiot and am blocked/bounced with his Symbiote/Visionary best friends combo. Big punt even trying to equip and swing in, heck I have elves built and should have recognized it instantly. I could have played Deed and then threatened to blow up his Arbor which might have given me a turn or two more. Instead he taps Cradle, lands another Cradle, and hardcasts exactly for the Hoof which kills me.
LOSS
Round 6 - Mono G Infect
Think this was just a super subpar build.
Game 1 I had seen an Invigorate while he shuffled badly, so I started out Therapy'ing for it (miss) while I setup with Veteran. I see he has 2 Seal of Strength which I therapy away, and he lands a Glistener. I land SFM and Jitte, and an online Jitte is about game for most any infect.
Game 2 he opens with Leyline of Sanctity, so I actually have a few hilarious plays while I Therapy myself just so I have a sac outlet for Vet and can accelerate like I want to. I kept having removal for his few creatures (Necropede??) but the game drags on as I am really wary of just dying to something stupid like Become Immense, double Berserk (which I saw he did have, at least). SFM into Jitte again but he had an answer for the Jitte. Eventually I have mana to GSZ for Sigarda while having Path available, land her and it is game over.
WIN
Round 7 - Elves
Game 1 again the elves player wins on turn 3/4, I didn't have discard or early interaction I believe.
Game 2 I end up with 3 Deeds in hand early on but not enough mana to use them. Top deck a Golgari Charm to wipe most of his board, he of course bounces Visionary which ends up being reused a lot during this match. All 3 Deeds are used over the next few turns, all he is left with is a Hoof that attacked alone. I lay down Tracker and start drawing a ton of cards, with Arbor to block while Tracker gets bigger.
Game 3 I don't remember the details but we went to time with a judge standing over us. I am contemplating conceding to him but I do have a Deluge in hand and a Jitte on board which I start to show him when he just concedes to me. Think I would have pulled it off given more time.
WIN
Round 8 - DnT
Game 1 he gets a vial out which I decay. I land a Vet and an early Deed but he responds immediately with Revoker on Deed while I was tapped out. He plays out 2 moms and I can't answer it.
Game 2 I have a quick SFM -> Jitte while he had mulled to 5. He concedes after Sigarda and Batterskull arrive. I won but probably made a huge mistake of letting Vet die early, it gave him lands to actually get back into the game.
Game 3 is very hazy, we were both tired and kept getting into arguments of land drops which we'd eventually agree and then laugh about. I have top out which is being needled. Also a Deed which is being Revoker'd. Long story short, I deal with the Revoker, then blow the board, and then Deed again the next turn to deal with mom and Displacer that he plays out. Then it's time called and we both have batterskull in hand. I go ahead and concede to him.
LOSS
Round 9 - TES
Game 1 he goes off turn 3 and makes 12 goblins which get there.
Game 2 I keep this interesting 7: Therapy, Vet, Vet, Vet, Vet, Deed, Fetch. Would you keep? I play out Therapy turn 1 name Brainstorm, thinking that if I can land a second Therapy right after, I don't want him to be able to hid anything. It is a miss, and reveals a very powerful hand for him. He proceeds to make 10 goblins and I'm very happy with myself, until he sacrifices a goblin to flashback therapy and he blind names Veteran Explorer. Welp. I die to 9 goblins.
Thoughts there? He was a pretty smart player and we both agreed it was a fine if risky keep. Perhaps I should have named Dark Rit which could have done it.
LOSS
-------------------
I changed my list Saturday night, taking out Thrun and Duress from the main, adding in Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Also switched the Paths for Swords since I felt like I wasn't quick enough to take advantage of the lack of lifegain, and I saw situations where Path wasn't good. I went down to 1 From the Ashes in the side, added an extra Needle, went to just 2 Thoughtseize instead of having Duress, and then had 2 Golgari Charms in the side, moving the Deluge to the main and replacing with a Deed.
Sunday Super Series, I went 3-3 before dropping. Beat Reanimator, Maverick, and Eldrazi, and losing to SneaknShow, Miracles, and Lands.
The Maverick match felt like my first actual fair matchup, and it felt amazing. Game 1 had an interesting opener for me. I turn 1 GSZ for Arbor, and he responds with the same line. Guess we are putting eachother on Elves. Turn 2 I play a fetch and Eternal Witness, grabbing the fetch from the yard. His turn 2 is Stoneforge into Jitte. My turn 3 I land the fetch, play my Jitte in hand, equip on E Wit and swing. He frowns, and takes it. I kill his Arbor. His turn 3 he plays a land, Jitte, and equips to SFM and swings, sacrificing his SFM to remove the counter from my jitte. My turn 4 I play Vet, Phyrexian Tower, SFM, cast SoFaI, equip to E Wit and swing again with her. He concedes.
I felt my sunday list was a lot better. Probably punted hard against Miracles by not Deeding early to kill a Blood Moon. Still don't know how to handle Sneak and Show. List seems strong, but a tad slow. Really have to be mindful of the time and willing to encourage your opponent not to play slowly.
I'll probably be working on a few other lists for a while. I picked up some Academy Rectors and the enchantment nic fit seems interesting. Might try a Fevered Visions/Black Vise brew, Cloud Vines, or a RUG Natural Order list that seems super strong. Talked to a guy piloting it Sunday and he was very enthusiastic about it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MTGLegacy/c...arned_to_stop/
There's another Day 2 report here -- not sure if this is someone from the thread or not, but I'm guessing not since I didn't know a third Nic Fit day 2'd until just now.
If you wanna test out Miracles matchup, Cockatrice is full of Miracle decks. -.-'
Match 01 - Monastery Miracles
Round one lasted for more than a 30 minutes with attrition and topdecking mode until finally Rhinos did the job. This was so boring round to play. Rhino, then Terminus, then another fatty, Terminus, Snap into STP, etc. Best thing I did was topdecking 2x PDeeds, saving them for the Entreat, and blasted them off for Rhinos.
Round two i gg after Blood Moon got on the field, which I completely forgot about.
Round three I won because of the two casted Tsunami's. He was flooded, and couldn't counter it. Gitrog did the fine job there. Drawing two (or three cards) a turn is sooo good!
Match 02 - Regular Miracles
Round one he set up CB/Top combo, but Decays are better. Enter 2x Cabals, DRS to sac, and he's got no hand left. Then 2x Rhinos hit the field and GG.
He left then. xD
If I Cabal first turn then I name mainly Brainstorm, then Top, then Force if I have something crucial in hand. Gitrog is always searched with GSZ before Sigarda because of the card draw. I do this after two or maybe three STP/Snaps are in graveyard. Sigarda is searched with GSZ if I discard something else.
GP Columbus 3-4 Drop
Scapeshift Nic Fit
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
1 Mina and Denn, Wildborn
1 Thragtusk
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Veteran Explorer
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Wood Elves
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Burning Wish
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Scapeshift
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Bayou
4 Badlands
3 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Taiga
1 Phyrexian Tower
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Thoughtseize
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Pithing Needle
1 Dryad Militant
1 From the Ashes
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Scapeshift
1 Innocent Blood
1 Massacre
1 Pyroclasm
2 Slaughter Games
Round 1 James-Reanimator
I win the die roll.
Game 1 He reanimates a Griselbrand on turn 2 and I have no black mana. He smashes me with Mr. AxeArms.
Game 2 He mulligans to 5 and I open with Thoughtseize, followed by Therapy then Deathrite Shaman and Scooze. He scoops.
Game 3 He mulligans to 6 and I begin with a ridiculous hand: 2 Therapies, Thoughtseize, Badlands, Surgical Extraction, Mountain, Scapeshift.
He plays land then cantrip, I follow up with Thoughtseize his Reanimate from among his Exhume, Griselbrand, and Entomb. He doesn't draw a
mana source and I Therapy his Exhume on the following turn. He Entombs another Gbrand, and I surgical it just cause. I get Scooze in play and he concedes.
Win 2-1
Round 2 Death and Taxes
I win the die roll.
Game 1 Goes according to plan. He plays SFM and I neuter it with Therapy. I Scapeshift on turn 5 for 30 damage.
Game 2 I Needle his SFM, Therapy his Revoker. It becomes clear that this player is quite new since he attacks his Germ directly into my 6/5 Tireless Tracker, then returns his Batterskull to his
hand during his second main phase. During my turn I cast Eternal Witness, return Therapy to my hand, taking out his Batterskull, then saccing my Witness to get rid of his RiP (which he'd been
holding in his hand for whatever reason). Tireless Tracker causes too many cards to be drawn and I Scapeshift for 30 again.
Win 2-0
Round 3 Nicholas-Shardless
I win the die roll.
Great opponent.
Game 1 I don't get a good Therapy and he gets an Agent plus Hymn and I'm too far behind on cards. I am able to clammer back with help from SDT and the game drags for 35 minutes.
Because of the sheer length of the game, I have drawn 4 Mountains and he has kept me at 7 lands due to Wastelands. I'm at 5 life and he has 1 Shardless Agent in play. I draw Scapeshift and am only able to get him to
9 from 21 (search up Valakut and 5 Mountains, electing to bolt his Agent. I get Scooze out and get him down to 2, but Abrupt Decay followed by a Jace sealed it up.
Realizing we had less than 20 minutes to finish the match, we both speed play.
The second game went much the same, except his Tasigur was able to stick in play for too long. Luckily my Scavenging Ooze was able to mitigate much of the banana man's advantage. However, after he resolved two Ancestral Visions and I drew nothing but lands for 4 turns he beat beat me on turn 1 of time. I wish I could recall the details of the this match better. Even though this was the only match I get swept, it was probably the most fun all day.
Lose 0-2
Round 4 Isaiah-Jeskai Delver
I win the die roll.
Game 1 he overextends into my Pernicious Deed and I finish the deal with Thragtusk and Huntmaster.
Game 2 He has an early Delver and I can't get my spells to resolve.
Game 3 He struggles on lands and I have nearly all the answers except I'm stuck on 2 lands for too long. He casts a RiP and destroys my potential. Dazes my Pernicious Deed in my desperation. After this I drew 5 lands in a row and could not answer his Insectile Aberration. Kind of upsetting to lose this match since he was not playing Price of Progress.
Lose 1-2
Round 5 Jose-Sneak and Show
I win the die roll.
Game 1 he leads off with Tarn into Volcanic into Ponder. There are a few decks this could be, so I choose to blind Therapy Brainstorm. Hit.
I see 2 Petals, Flusterstorm, Emrakul, and Ancient Tomb. He of course draws Sneak Attack and plants the Spaghetti monster in my throat.
I have Shaman, SDT, and two lands in play. I know Veteran is on top and I still have the Therapy in the yard. I get the top on top of my deck and
follow up by casting Veteran and stripping his flusterstorm. The following turn I land Huntmaster who goes to town, beating down hard as the werewolf.
Game 2 I blindly call Show and Tell, missing. I see 2 Sneak Attacks so I Needle them. He draws into a S&T, putting into play Gbrand and I put Wood Elves into play.
I have Needle and Veteran in play. I have 1 Forest, 2 Bayou, 1 Mountain in play. Surgical Extraction, Burning Wish, and Slaughter Games. I choose to Surgical his Force of Will.
Then I'm in a conundrum. I see his hand has Emrakul, and he has enough life to draw 14 cards, likely to hit another Show and Tell, thus negating my Innocent Bloods effectiveness. So, I elect
to cast Slaughter Games, naming Show and Tell, thus neutering his entire deck except for the single Gbrand in play, which I am prepared to deal with the following turn via B Wish into Innocent Blood.
I pass and he top decks Blood Moon, which puts me off of black mana. I find no answer to his Demon and die.
Game 3 he drops a turn 2 Emrakul off of Show and Tell and I lose.
This is when Arianrhod shows up. Very nice guy, and we talk a little about the line I took during game 2. It was pretty sad. I don't think there was any way out of it since I obviously sided out my Decays and Deeds for this matchup.
Lose 1-2
Round 6 Byford-Elves
I lose the die roll.
At this point I'm kind of sloppy and fatigued.
He wins game 1 through the usual route. Natural order for a Behemoth.
Game 2 I am able to squeeze out a Scapeshift for 30 after I'm able to hold off his Behemoth for 3 turns with my 10/10 Scooze.
Game 3 He busts out the combo and hits me with everything on turn 4. I had Veteran Explorer, Phyrexian Tower, 2 Bayou, 1 Swamp, 1 Forest and Top in play. The top of my deck was Scapeshift. All I had to do was draw it with top and sac Veteran to the tower to get my 7 lands and Nuke him. But he was at 20 and I thought I could wait 1 more turn. It never came.
Lose 1-2
Round 7 Elves again
Game 1 I'm really toasted at this point. I'm on autopilot, wreck his face with P Deed, then Scapeshift for 18 when he's at 16. I was surprised that this opponent had never heard of the Scapeshift combo with Valakut and I had to explain the
land triggers in detail. I was pretty tired and I stuttered while explaining Valakut and how they all enter play simultaneously. 4 people around us were all like "it's a famous combo, you've never heard of it???" which didn't make the guy feel any better.
Game 2 I'm behooved.
Game 3 I strip his hand to smithereens then Scapeshift for 30.
Win 2-1
It's quarter to 6 and I'm really hungry. My carpool buddy who rocks GC Post was also ready to go. We decided that 7 rounds was more than enough fun and if we left now we could get Chipotle and home before midnight.
Overall, very fun weekend. I felt as though the matches I lost were not because I got trounced, it had to do with nuance and fatigue. These events are really taxing on someone who stands and walks during his day job. Professional Event Services was ok, their internet pairings page only worked for 2 rounds, all others were Internal Service Error 500. What a bunch of noobs.
Thoughts:
I still like the decks place in the meta. I was disappointed to have played against so many other combo decks and not ever seeing Miracles or Eldrazi. I have a few tweaks to make in the deck. I felt as though Abrupt Decay had very few uses, and I think I'll be getting rid of it altogether. I never got a quick Veteran Tower ramp the whole tournament. I regret of playing only 9 mountains, as there were times where I had to Scapeshift for sublethal.
I suggest you to look into beast within. It's a really good card which saved my life more than I could count when I was playing sylvan plug (or a kitchen Glissa deck which was very resilient but too many Karakas in the meta...)Quote:
Thoughts:
I have a few tweaks to make in the deck. I felt as though Abrupt Decay had very few uses, and I think I'll be getting rid of it altogether.
+monocolored
+can deal with everything, land include (for legends fit, can slay a Karakas for exemple. Or a Nexus. Then you can think about Jace, Grizelbrand, Tasigur/Gurmag...).
-one more mana
-can be countered. But while it's an instant its less relevant than pulse or vindicate.
-gives a 3/3 beast. But when you play deeds/bigger creatures, who cares? Rarely a problem and if played during upkeep, will be affected by summoning seekness.
My two cents.
I'm not so sure. It can come back to bite you in the ass.
On the other hand, you can always turn one of your own creatures into a 3/3 when facing an empty board.
For the people running sfm lists with lower curves, at that point do you think it would be better to play with a full play set of DRS as ramp and be more like a junk blade/deadguyale/Rock list?
I just feel like with veteran you really want to be making the most use out of him by dropping biggame ending threats.
Would love to hear people's thoughts