SCG Atlanta Legacy Open top 64 with Aggro-Loam
Hey all, just wanted to give you a brief report from the SCG Legacy Open in Atlanta this past weekend. I played Aggro-Loam to a top 64 finish going 6-3 with the following list:
Creatures
3 Countryside Crusher
2 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
2 Scavenging Ooze
Planeswalkers
1 Liliana of the Veil
Artifacts
4 Mox Diamond
2 Engineered Explosives
Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Life from the Loam
3 Thoughtseize
2 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Seismic Assault
Lands
2 Badlands
2 Taiga
1 Bayou
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Verdant Catacomb
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Forgotten Cave
2 Tranquil Thicket
4 Wasteland
1 Volrath's Stronghold
2 Mountain
1 Forest
Sideboard
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
2 Firespout
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Zuran Orb
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Darkblast
My matches went as follows:
R1 vs Goblins: 1-2 (0-1): Kept a slower hand game 1 on draw and got crushed. Boarded in Spouts, Darkblast, and 1 Ancient Grudge. Game 2 went much better, used removal to hold him off and was able to grind out the game. Game 3 he had another fast draw and was able to wasteland/port me early to lock me out of casting my spells.
R2 vs Goblins 2-0 (1-1) Won the die roll this time. Both games I had removal for his early spells. Was able to resolve early goyfs/crushers to keep his creatures at bay.
R3 vs Goblins 2-1 (2-1) Same story as round 1 except I won the die roll and got to start on the play. Kept hands that had removal + early blockers. Game 3 I was able to wasteland his cavern and he was stranded without mana for 4 turns while I built up.
R4 vs Esper Stoneblade 2-0 (3-1) I consider this a good mu for us. Our game plan is bigger than theirs and ancient grudge out of the sideboard is really good against SFM. For boarding, I bring in grudges and REB/Pyroblast.
R5 vs RUG Delver 0-2 (3-2) Both games my opponent had draws that included multiple lands/threats/counters. He was able to resolve and protect delver + Mongoose/goyf. I had wastelands, but for every wasteland I played he seemed to have the fetch to make up for it. It didn't help that I drew fairly threat-light both games, but them's the beats.
R6 vs BUG Delver 2-0 (4-2) Both games I was able to resolve Bob's on turn 1 and my opponent didn't have immediate answers. Game 1, I was at 2 life from being attacked by a delver for 5 turns. I managed to resolve seismic assault with a loam in the yard and a land in hand. I killed the Delver and my opponent had no follow up. Game 2, I fought through 3 Surgical Extraction ripping my wastelands, loams and bob's. Surgical just isn't very effective against us because while it did hinder plan A, I was able to switch gears and rely on Goyf and Crusher to seal the deal.
R7 vs UW Stoneblade 2-0 (5-2) Same story as above. I really feel like this match up is highly favorable for us. They don't really run answers for seismic assault, so resolving one is very, very good. In game 1, my opponent was able to flash in batterskull off of a SFM he was able to protect. I responded by resolving crusher. My opponent attacked into me with crusher and I had multiple cycle lands in hand + loam in the yard to blow him out.
R8 vs WB Stoneblade 2-1 (6-2) Lost the first game off a mull to 6. Opponent led with t1 and t2 discard, leaving me with only lands. I then proceeded to draw land for the next 3 turns while my opponent resolved SFM and flashed in batterskull + sword of fire and ice. Games 2 and 3 were more on par with the other Stoneblade matches. I was able to resolve Bobs and Seismic Assaults.
R9 vs UR Delver 0-2 (6-3) Both games my opponent had pretty solid hands that included delver/guide and burn spells. I boarded in Zuran Orbs, but didn't draw one. I don't know if it would have made a difference. His hand in game 2 was really good, having multiple bolts/chain lightning + delver/guide and fireblast to end the game. These decks also play price of progress, which is very scary for us.
Ended the day at 6-3 which was good for top 64 and a $50 cash prize. This was my first ever cash in a SCG event, so I was pretty happy. I managed to dodge combo all day and stay out of the draw bracket where all of the UW miracle decks were. My sideboard plan for SnT was ensnaring bridge. Most SnT decks don't have an answer for the artifact, outside of SnT'ing an Angel of Despair. The bridge can make our crusher's less impressive, but it completely locks griselbrand/emrakul from ever attacking until it is dealt with, allowing us plenty of time to resolve Seismic Assault.
One thing I wanted to mention, and this is simply just an observational opinion, is my feelings toward UW miracles and, more specifically, Sensei's Divining Top. I really hope that WotC considers banning top in legacy, not because it is overpowered or too good, but because it causes an inordinate amount of draws to occur. A friend of mine was doing really well in the event, sitting at a comfortable 6-2, until he faced against UW miracles is round 8. The game went to time and eventually ended in a draw, which put him in the draw bracket which was filled to the brim with multiple other UW miracle decks. Inevitably, he played against another miracle player in round 9 which also ended in a draw. The 2 draws knocked him out of the money and were strictly caused by both player's over-utilization of Top. Every time a spell was cast or an ability was activated, the miracle players would activate top and spend 10-15 seconds looking at cards and reordering. While 10-15 seconds doesn't sound like much, when you activate top 30-40 times over the course of a match, it adds up.
Top seems much more fair on MTGO because of the way time is kept, more inline with how time is kept in a chess tournament. If the top player spends all his time topping, he loses. In paper magic, the non-top player is punished with a draw because his opponent spent 15-20 minutes of the game durdling around and doing nothing.
Anyway, that's my rant. I know the report isn't super in-depth, but I'm at work right now and don't have access to my notes.
If anyone has ideas of a better sideboard card, other than Zuran Orb, I could use to help combat burn-based decks, please feel free to suggest. Thanks!
