11th with UG Madnss at GP Yokohama 2012: Japan Legacy Championship (356 players)

[wwwwins]

It is a tournament report for Grand Prix Yokohama 2012: Japan Legacy Championship on 6/24/2012 at Pacifico Yokohama. There were 356 players and I was placed 11th place with UG Madness deck. Without further adieu, this is the deck:

Deck Name: THIS IS SPARTAAAA!

Spells:
4 Vengevine
3 Wild Mongrel
4 Fauna Shaman
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Phantasmal Image
1 Quirion Ranger
1 Wonder
1 Memnite

4 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
2 Daze
3 Stifle
4 Intuition

Lands
4 Tropical Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Wasteland
2 Forest
1 Island

Sideboard:
3 Flusterstorm
3 Spell Snare
3 Submerge
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Trinket Mage
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Nature’s Claim
1 Umezawa’s Jitte

The match up:
Round 1 vs UR Devler Burn
Game 1: I win the dice roll, drop a hierarch, pass the turn. My opponent played an island and drop a devler of secret. I was expecting some kind of RUG tempo, but the basic Island made me think otherwise. Turn two, I drop a trop and pass, than he flip the devler, attack for 3, and trying to burn my hierarch. I responded by intuition for 3 Vengevines. On my turn, I drop a wild mongrel and discard rootwalla, attacking for 12 with the Spartans. He can’t do much after that.

Game 2: I side in flusterstorm and side out the stifles. He tried to race burn me and at the same time killing my fauna shaman. However, when I draw my second shaman, I was able to go off with flusterstorm to protect her from being burned.

(1-0)

Round 2 vs 5 color zoo
Game 1: My opponent won the dice roll, and played a tropical island and a devler. Once again I suspected he was playing RUG tempo. I played a land and pass the turn. He didn’t flip devler after looking at the top card, and attacked for 1. I play a land and fauna shaman, at the end of his turn, he use brainstorm and put a lightning bolt on top of his library which was revealed on his next upkeep. On his turn, he flipped the delver and attack for 3, and he fetched for scrubland. A 5 colored deck? That was another surprise of the day. I realized that he was on a five color zoo deck when he played tribal flame and wild nacatal on his next turn. However, intuition for 3 vengevines raced him in two turns.

Game2: side in trinket mage, explosives, scavenging ooze for and Jitte for life gain and racing. I also side in Trinket mage and engineered explosive to control their board. He mull down to 6, and open up with a delver. I play 2 fauna shaman in the following turns, but they all got killed by bolt and path to exile. He even got double tribal flame for 5, but I counter one of them. I top decked a scavenging ooze, and was able to grow him to a 6/6. Wonder came to the graveyard after discard through wild mongrel, and his devler was no longer to get in. I grind him out quickly after.
(2-0)

Round 3: Sneaky Show
Game 1: I won the dice roll. I won quickly by having turn 2 intuition with the help of hierarch. Even though he had show and tell, I FOW it and he quickly scooped.

Game 2: Add in fluster storm. We both mulled down to 6. However, my opponent seemed to keep a greedy hand. He play lotus petal, sac the petal and play brainstorm. I think that he kept a no land hand, so I FOW the brainstorm. I was right that he didn’t have land in his opening hand, but he was able to draw one on his next turn. I started to play control role, with one noble hierarch and quirion ranger to apply pressure on him, while deny his mana base by stifle and wasteland. Eventually, I hard casted vengevine and applying more pressure on him. He had to FOW my second vengevine when I casted on the following turn, but flusterstorm just won the counter war.

(3-0)

Round 4: U/W Stone Blade
Game 1: I won the dice role, but I mull down to 6 where he kept his hand. He has some interesting card choice in his hand by opening up with Weathered Wayfarer, and he was able to fetch lands after lands as long as I don’t miss the land drop. There was a point which we both have 4 lands, and one of his land is a fetch land. He activate the land’s ability and responded with wayfarer’s ability to fetch up even more lands. (Can he do this? I just believe him without calling judge.)

I won the game by having 3 Vengevines through intuition which backed up by my FOW from his FOW, and stifled his battleskull’s token trigger from his stoneforge mystic. Vengevines just attack for the win.

Game 2: Side in Spell snare , flusterstorm, and ooze( to against lingering souls and snapcaster mage). He started out with Weathered Wayfarer, and followed by turn two stoneforge mystic, but it got spell snared. He tried to cast surgical extraction on my Vengevine, but flusterstorm just prevent him from doing so. But he got 2 sword to plowshares and snap caster mage to handle them, and cast a lingering souls after. Eventually we get into a standstill until I drew Scavenging ooze. Take out his remaining flashback spell and slowly attack into him. It was a close game but I still get there.
(4-0)
Round 5: GW Maverick
Game 1: He opened up with Savannah and mother of rune. It was obvious to see he was playing GW Maverick. I drop a land and passed the turn. He then GSZ for dryad arbor, and passed the phone. I play a fauna shaman and pass. He then tried to play a knight of reliquary and got dazed. I just start chaining Spartans with my shaman, and at the same time he got another Knight of Reliquary. The knight gets bigger as the time goes, and mother of rune with protection make me unable to block. When I was down to 5 life while he has 18, I had to use stifle on mother and have a hierarch to block the knight. However, phantasmal I was able to search up two phantasmal image, and trigger all of my vengevines in the graveyard, and copying those vengevines with my phantasmal image. So there were 6 vengevines on my side, and swinging with all of them making me shouting “This is SPARTAAA!” for 24 damage. He need to sword to plowshare his own knight to survive, but he couldn’t do much after.

Game 2: side in Jitte, submerge, spell snare, and ooze. I mull down to six and kept the hand. Submerge wreck him when he was on the knight of reliquary beat down plan. He cast a ooze but got snared, and I won quickly when fauna shaman is online.

(5-0)

At this point, I know this will get harder because most the good decks and players are likely to be 5-0…and I expected my next opponent will be good….

Round 6: vs Saso, Kazuho playing UW Terminus

Saso is a famous legacy player in Japan who leads the innovation of creating Supreme Blue deck couple years ago, and he made consistent top 8 presence in many major event in Japan. I know this is going to be a taugh match up.

Game 1: I was able to resolve intuition through the protection of FOW. Got in 3 Vengevines and bring him down to 6. He desperately ponder, brainstorm into sensie’s top, and was able to get terminus in time. Eventually, he got cliques and squadron hawk equipped with jitte and win the match.

Game 2: side in flusterstorm and spell snare. With a turn one noble hierarch opening, I was able to cast two fauna shaman on turn 2 and 3, while disrupting his mana with wasteland and stifle, to keep him only 2 lands in play. Eventually, he draw his third land and pass the turn. He has to cast his clique to block one Vengevine, and cast a hawk and snapcaster mage in order to survive Vegevine’s attack. Eventually I got him down to 1 life, but he top deck a sensei's divining top, and flip a terminus on his draw step. With two lands in my hand, I couldn’t do anything besides let the terminus resolve. Eventually he find all his answer through top, and I was out of gas.

I think I shouldn’t over expand my board when I know he play terminus. Maybe I should have trying to bait him use terminus set-ups with few threats, and continue pressure him afterwards….sigh…

(5-1)

Round 7: Monoblack Pox

Game 1: I guess I was influenced by the previous lost. Kept a bad hand where he has a lucky start goes from turn 1 dark ritual, pox. Turn 2 land, inquisition, and turn 3 hymm. Nothing to be done here.

Game 2: I kept a hand of able to get vengevine into play on turn 2 ( Wild Mongrel, basking rootwalla, and a vengevine). That get him quickly.

Game 3: He just has crazy luck similar to the game 1. He was able to extirpate my vengevine as well. Nothing much I could done here.

(5-2)

The sudden drop from top table to the bottom was certainly harsh feeling, but the only thing I knew I could do was just to play it out….don’t want to just give it up so easily.

Round 8: RB Zombardment

Game 1: He won the dice roll, and set a gravecrawler with cavern of souls. The game ended quickly when I show my turn 2 double vengevine play and yelling “this is spartaaaaaaa!”

Game 2: Side in all the GY hate, and jitte, spell snare. This game took a long time since he double perish the board, but at the same time I removed his bloodghast and gravecrawlers in his graveyard. I had upper hand when I draw a wild mongrel and slowly eat his life away. He top deck a carrion feeder but has no creatures to feed it. We started racing each other, and his perish couldn’t do much against wild mongrel as long as I have cards in my hand.

(6-2)

Final round: vs Sneaky Show (just how many sneaky shows are there today??)

Game 1. I won the dice roll and open up with a noble. He ponder and past the turn. I drop a land and play a fauna shaman. On his next turn, he preordain once, put two cards on the bottom, play a volcanic island and brainstorm again. I suspected that he was playing sneaky show at this point. On his third turn, he did drop a show and tell with one manna open, but I manage to spell pierce it. However, he played a sneak attack on his next turn. I tried to FOW it but it got countered by his FOW. I pretty much lost to the annihilator trigger from his 15/15 flying octopus.

Game 2: side in flusterstorm, and natural’s claim. I open up with a noble again. And cast intuition on end of his turn two. 2 vengevines come into play on my third turn when I cast a quirion ranger and a rootwalla. On his turn, he played a sol-land and show and tell. With one flusterstorm and one pierce in my hand, I choose to pierce first, then he tried to counter it with FOW, but I counterted the show and tell with flusterstorm again with storm count 3. The game ended there.

Game 3: For the first few turn I tried to keep mana open to interact with him. Stifling his fetches, waste his sol-land. Eventually I got fauna shaman, and started slowly to to chain vengevine combo on him. However, he was able to FOW his way to get sneak attack into play. But I had nature’s claim in my hand making his effort useless. His last attempt was to cast show and tell off a brainstorm , and yet it got dazed+flusterstormed. I attack with my creatures for the win.

(7-2)

Unfortunately, I was not able to make into top 8, however it was a close one nevertheless. I had a good run and will continue to innovate in the future.

I would thanks to many friends who contribute ideas to my deck or play testing with me. Especially thanks to Sean, who gave me a lot of insight and great ideas in the past couple months.

Thanks for reading!

[Mirrislegend]

Referring to the VVs as Spartans, allowing to you to shout "This is Sparta!" when beating face with them, has led me to try this deck. What would you change in the 75, if anything?

[JDK]

Grats! Now I feel bad for selling my Vengevines just a week ago.

And yes, of course you can respond to your fetchland's ability. You just have to announce to keep priority while activating it. The sacrificing is part of its cost, so he has less lands on the battlefield when Wayfarer's ability resolves.

[razvan]

Nice deck and nice performance. Congratulations. I am a big fan of madness.

Also:

He activate the land’s ability and responded with wayfarer’s ability to fetch up even more lands. (Can he do this? I just believe him without calling judge.)

Yes. Fetchland sacrifice is part of the cost, so he sacs it and pays 1 life to put the search effect on the stack. Then he gets priority again, and uses WW. The check is 4 lands for you, 3 for him because the fetchland is in the GY, so it works.

[JDK]

... Then he gets priority again, and uses WW. ...

You have to explicitly announce to keep priority. If you don't, you are automatically passing priority. This is really important, especially if you someone is playing with wishes and LEDs.

[anjo]

Thanks for you report.

Is there any site where i can find the top8/16 decklists?

[bfeingersh]

Cool list. It looks about 4 Survival of the Fittest short of breaking the format wide open.

[wwwwins]

Referring to the VVs as Spartans, allowing to you to shout "This is Sparta!" when beating face with them, has led me to try this deck. What would you change in the 75, if anything?

With the current meta game, where Sneaky Show are popular, I would probably get at least one pithing needle in my sb to name sneak attack when i have chance. The spell pierces in the main can be customized for other spells (preferably blue), since I add them to expect to see a lot of sneak show/ re-animator on that day.