Another from Tartell:Fleshing that out a bit....How 'bout that Top 8?
This past weekend saw the largest Grand Prix attendance in North America. 1230 people came showed up to see who would take home some money, find fame and glory (more or less) or scrub out.
While streaming web-casts would have been awesome, those who couldn't attend continuously hit the refresh buttom on their web browser looking for results of the Top 8.
Top 8 Lists:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazin...hi09/top8decks
1. B/W/g Distruption (Kowal)
2. B/g Disruption (Rietzl)
3. 4-C Counter-Top (Nassif)
4. U/g/r Thrash (Caplan)
5. Storm/Tendrils Combo (TK)
6. 4-C Counter-Top (Probasco)
7. R/w/g Zoo (Six)
8. Dragon Stompy (Mink)
Quick Stats, Number of Maindeck [Cardname] in the Top 8:
Tarmogoyf: 24
Dark Confidant: 10
Brainstorm: 16
Force of Will: 12
Dark Ritual: 12 (Thanks, P_R)
Sensei's Divining Top: 11
Counterbalance: 8
Swords to Plowshares: 8
Spell Snare: 7
Polluted Delta: 19
Bloodstained Mire: 15
Flooded Strand: 11
Windswept Heath: 7
Wooded Foothills: 4
Wasteland: 11
So, how 'bout that Top 8?
Quick numbers:
Breakdown gotten from here; the only alterations were shortening some names to fit them to the table (RG creatureless Loam > RG Control Loam, Painter's Servant/Grindstone > Painter's Stone, Dreadnought/Countertop > Topnought). Admittedly those numbers don't tell much, and the categorization is a bit shaky (what qualifies as "Threshold"; decks with Mongoose?) and I'd much rather make a comparison of what made it to Any Given Record, but I don't have the data necessary.Code:Deckname | Day 2 Count | Top 8 Count | Percentage to Top 8 CounterTop | 19 | 2 | 10.5% Goblins | 17 | 0 | 0% ANT | 10 | 1 | 10% Merfolk | 10 | 0 | 0% Threshold | 8 | 1 | 12.5% Dreadstill | 7 | 0 | 0% Landstill | 6 | 0 | 0% Aggro Loam | 6 | 0 | 0% BG(w) aggro | 5 | 2 | 40% Dredge | 5 | 0 | 0% RG aggro | 5 | 0 | 0% Mono-red aggro | 4 | 0 | 0% 4c control | 2 | 0 | 0% Affinity | 2 | 0 | 0% Combo Elves | 2 | 0 | 0% Natural Rock | 2 | 0 | 0% Painter's Stone | 2 | 0 | 0% Survival | 2 | 0 | 0% Team America | 2 | 0 | 0% UW control | 2 | 0 | 0% 41 Land | 1 | 0 | 0% 4c aggrocontrol | 1 | 0 | 0% Belcher | 1 | 0 | 0% Countersliver | 1 | 0 | 0% Topnought | 1 | 0 | 0% Dragon Stompy | 1 | 1 | 100% Faeries | 1 | 0 | 0% Mono-blue aggro | 1 | 0 | 0% RG Control Loam | 1 | 0 | 0% RGW aggro | 1 | 1 | 100% Salvagers combo | 1 | 0 | 0% UB control | 1 | 0 | 0% UG aggro | 1 | 0 | 0% UGB Standstill | 1 | 0 | 0%
Anyways, make what you will out of this; to me it looks like BG(x) is the big winner. Those numbers don't mean much, of course, but that's pretty much all I can figure out here. For the record, Mono-blue aggro is Faerie Stompy as far as I know since to my knowledge Fredrick Chang made Day 2 & played FS.
By those numbers, Dragon Stompy seems amazing if it makes Day 2, and BGx seems like the best deck purely by the numbers. Again, the numbers are shakey though as there's so much data missing, but still, 2 out of 5 making Top 8 seems really, really good.
It tells you what Threshold is - Mongoose and/or Werebear.
“It's possible. But it involves... {checks archives} Nature's Revolt, Opalescence, two Unstable Shapeshifters (one of which started as a Doppelganger), a Tide, an animated land, a creature with Fading, a Silver Wyvern, some way to get a creature into play in response to stuff, some way to get a land into play in response to stuff (a different land from the animated land), and one heck of a Rube Goldberg timing diagram.”
-David DeLaney
What I was really after was whether decks with Mongoose and Countertop fall under Countertop or Threshold, things I have no way of knowing that skew the statistics.
I find it curious that every top 8 deck besides the combo and mono-red deck were running a full set of Tarmogoyf. Otherwise, I think the top 8 is a pretty good representation of Legacy and its environment.
I'm honestly surprised Dragon Stompy Top 8'd. My personal experience with the deck is that too often your mulligans cost you a match or two, knocking you out of T8 (and this is over the 6 rounds you play at a Dual Land Draft, not the 15 rounds of a GP). This is before your opponents have anything to say about it. Perhaps the extra land he's playing over the stock lists helped, but I'm still surprised nonetheless.
I'm not surprised by the rest of the lists making Top 8. I suppose when Nassif writes a report we'll find out what exactly was going on with that sideboard, it seems like there should have been a little more coherent of a strategy than just a bunch of 1-ofs, but he pocketed $3500 and I didn't, so I'm not going to say anything about it until we hear get some insight on it.
Brassman's list is phenominal (he did win 12 straight matches with it, 5 in the grinder, then 6 more on Day 1, and 1 on Day 2 before finally losing one), and should probably go straight to DTB status.
Random Thoughts:
- I'm once again suprised how well Black-based disruption decks did. What's their record in REALLY big events? Starting with DeadguyAle, these decks continue to defy my expectations in uber-large events.
- DragonStopmy making it that far is suprising but not shocking. Like many have already stated, that deck just poops on itself too often to consistently do well.
- Does anyone know what the top placing Dredge/Ichorid deck was? I figured that there would have been at least one in the top 8.
- The number of Goyfs isn't too suprising and may even leave us with a quandry. Seriously, did you think a day would come when a pure beater would be played in twice the numbers of FoW? It doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth. But what (if anything) should be done about it? I can't see banning a pure beater, but I also see it being sorta dumb that if your deck can even closely come to reasonably supporting green, you're running Goyf.
- Bardo, no Dark Ritual count? Well, there were 12 of them - the same number of FoWs!
- Also, no Ponder count? 11 of them - tying SDT.
- I'm glad to see a low number of CounterBalances. Only two decks playing them. Screw that boring card and his boring brother SDT.
- edit - Oh! And zero copies of that stupid-new legend Progenitus makes me happy. Screw returning to SecretForce tech.
Originally Posted by Cavius The Great
Yes, but the two decks playing them went 1/2. That says something about the strength of the card vs. the field.
Again, read. If it has a card with threshold, it's under Threshold. If it doesn't, it's under CounterTop.
“It's possible. But it involves... {checks archives} Nature's Revolt, Opalescence, two Unstable Shapeshifters (one of which started as a Doppelganger), a Tide, an animated land, a creature with Fading, a Silver Wyvern, some way to get a creature into play in response to stuff, some way to get a land into play in response to stuff (a different land from the animated land), and one heck of a Rube Goldberg timing diagram.”
-David DeLaney
Black-based disruption decks often do well in major tournaments because they don't get knocked out ASAP by combo and have a fighting chance against almost everything. Also, a ton of people bring them, and nobody packs sideboard hate for them whatsoever. Looking at the two black-based disruption lists, what hate are you really going to pack for those that make that huge of a difference? Relic of Progenitus might be the worst it faces.
Dragon Stompy making T8 doesn't surprise me all that much. If Dragon Stompy was going to get wrecked, it'd have happened the most in the early round. But most of that top 8 Dragon Stompy's got a solid shot against, especially with 4 Trinispheres maindecked. Dragon Stompy's inconsistent opening hands cost it games, and this factor caught up with it in the semifinals rather than earlier.
Not surprised to see the one combo deck. Not surprised to see the two Countertops, especially with the ever underrated Sower of Temptation in the lists.
I am surprised that the one Threshold list was Canadian Thresh (Props to Caplan!).
I'm stunned that the Goyf Sligh list made it. In a field awash with Counterbalance and Combo, no less. I'd love to read a report on this.
I'm only partially surprised at Goblins not being up there. I'm not surprised about Landstill at all, as eventually in long tournaments the timer is going to kill Landstill.
1. Saddened but not surprised to see so many Goyfs.
2. Happy and surprised to see so little CB. Bleh @ that.
3. Combo! <3<3<3 I have put this deck back together (proxying the Badlands for now), and it's like coming back to an old flame.
4. Kind of glad Progenitus isn't there. Would be annoying.
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