[Deck] Goblins

[Dice_Box]

I think you misunderstood, I was talking about Lightning Crafter not Kiki-Jiki. I LC as a card that you can pull and break something. Then when it dies you go looking for something else.

So say you need a bit of damage to break a Togg, fetch a crafter, hit it for 3, let the card be removed and then fetch a ringleader.

[GoboLord]

First of all this:

However, I'm less optimistic about the new set (even less so when it's Izzet-themed). A blue (or red-and-blue) Goblin would probably have the power-level of cards like Goblin Flectomancer or the infamous Razorfin Hunter

Second:

I think if you are looking for a storm hoser in mono-R then Mindbreak Trap is a better option.

Mindbreak Trap IS a good card vs. Storm combo, however, playing stormcombo myself I know that Gitaxian Probe makes it way easier for you to prepare for unwanted shit. I think really the ugliest package Goblins of stormcombo hate we can possibly have is Leyline of Sanctity + Mindbreak Trap (+ maybe some occassional grave-hate).

[magicmerl]

I think you misunderstood, I was talking about Lightning Crafter not Kiki-Jiki. I LC as a card that you can pull and break something. Then when it dies you go looking for something else.

So say you need a bit of damage to break a Togg, fetch a crafter, hit it for 3, let the card be removed and then fetch a ringleader.

Sorry, I originally wrote quite a bit more about the LC-KJ combo, then trimmed it down upon review and ended up only talking about KikiJiki. :)

I personally want the last 'flex' slots in my deck to be cheap threats (which is why I prefer TSH to Scrapper, since 90% of the time I just run him out there as a dude) so that I can pressure the opponent.

I think that there are heaps of 'toy' cards like Lightning Crafter, KikiJiki, Wort etc that look awesome and in certain situations ARE awesome, but aren't consistent enough. This basically comes down to Classic vs Romantic game theory (more recently known as 'magical christmas land'). In a nutshell, Classic theory says to maximise the minimum (worst) case, while Romantic theory aims to maximise the maximum (best) case. Choosing cards like Restoration Angel, Lightning Crafter, KikiJiki is Romantic, because the cards are clearly awesome in the specific situations where they shine. They are far less awesome in situations where you are mana shy or they are your only creatures.

[Dice_Box]

I can grant you that its scope of attack is narrow, but so is something like sharpshooter and it is almost a global one off. I don't know, I will test it out tonight and you might be totally right. But I will try anything once and I think that what I said was the best situation but I see how it works in other situations too. It is a 3 point face hit or a finisher after combat. Its not limited to just championing out a critter to get a CIP effect. Thats just something you can use when you play it if you have the option.

Now playing it alongside Thornbite I see as a long shot but on its own in a deck that can use the firepower. I will see.

[magicmerl]

Yeah, give it a try and see how it goes. I'm locked in with 23 lands and another 30 cards already (the 'core' plus 4 Gempalms). That's 53 cards all up, so I only really have 7 flex slots to play with and even then they aren't completely open ended:

3 Mogg War Marshall / Thalia, Guardian of Thraben / Warren Instigator (I can't ever see running anything other than these three in this slot. In fact, I even want to run MORE than 3 two drops in these 7 slots)
1 Stingscourger (in the current meta this guys is SO important)

** then we get to the more questionable cards. Of course, there are only 3 open slots now.... **

1 Skirk Prospector (This guy is SOOOO unexciting. Yet whenever I think about cutting him somehow I end up playing vs a Jitte or needing to machine gun down some creatures and I remember why he is good. Plus, having extra 1-2CC dudes is good)
1 Tin Street Hooligan (random artifact kill. maybe this card should be a SB. easily replaced with Scrapper, which is more costly. maybe this should be a Goblin Chieftain...)
1 Goblin Sharpshooter (again, easily arguable as a SB card. I currently run him main since he's good vs green/tribal decks)

I realise you don't have an identical list to me. What are you running different from my list in order to try out Lightning Crafter (and other cards)?

[Dice_Box]

I put the deck into Cockatrice last night so I will just post it over. I have done a massive amount of editing to my base. Most of my last main competitive play was done when most of these cards where type 2. (So I am a touch out of practice.) I am still in the mindset of Pros, War, Pile. Best opener in the day. I love my lackeys but I still lean on my Prospectors more. So this edit is really really new to me and comes from a fair amount of reading this thread when I should have been doing other things. Anyway here is the list: (Crypt because it is all I have too.)

Critters
4 Goblin Lackey
1 Skirk Prospector
4 Goblin Piledriver
3 Mogg War Marshal
2 Stingscourger
3 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Goblin Chieftain
3 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Lightning Crafter
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
2 Siege-Gang Commander

Artifacts
4 Æther Vial

Land
4 Wasteland
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Rishadan Port
10 Mountain

//Sideboard
SB: 4 Chalice of the Void
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 1 Tuktuk Scrapper
SB: 4 Pyrokinesis

[magicmerl]

Right, so the basic differences between our lists are pretty small:
yours - mine
2nd Stingscourger - 4th Gempalm
3 MWM - 3 Thalia
1 Chieftain - 4th Warchief
1 Lightning Crafter - 1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Kiki Jiki - 23rd land

They are all pretty marginal (except for the land-for-5-drop, which looks like it will shift the deck a lot slower).

Regarding your SB, you really should invest in some Relic of Progenitus. It's seriously better as GY hate. And Pithing Needle looks really random, maybe I'm just not good enough of a player to use it properly.

[Dice_Box]

Right, so the basic differences between our lists are pretty small:
yours - mine
2nd Stingscourger - 4th Gempalm
3 MWM - 3 Thalia
1 Chieftain - 4th Warchief
1 Lightning Crafter - 1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Kiki Jiki - 23rd land

They are all pretty marginal (except for the land-for-5-drop, which looks like it will shift the deck a lot slower).

Regarding your SB, you really should invest in some Relic of Progenitus. It's seriously better as GY hate. And Pithing Needle looks really random, maybe I'm just not good enough of a player to use it properly.

I have done so, they are in the post. As for Kiki. Might trade him out for a land. Thinking on it.

Edit. Pithing you can play in response too. So Jite hits the table. On your turn you drop pithing and bingo. Does a lot more than that tho. Can hose dredge with it too. You need to know more about other decks to use it well and at this point I do not, but I see its use to run it anyway.

[Ace/Homebrew]

Classic vs Romantic

Thank you for linking this!

Merl, I feel the same way about Cabal Therapy as you do about Pithing Needle. Lack of confidence has kept me from trying it even though I have had a set for years.

Dice, you can splash with only 1 Plateau if you already have the fetches. Skip lunch for a week or two and you've opened up a new option. Or ask friends and people you know at the event to borrow one. People are surprisingly generous.


I've been very resistant to playing Thalia. I HATE using a non-goblin creature in this deck. But people's success (namely Max Tietze and JRW) recently has made me reconsider and I am testing her in the board. Which match-ups other than Storm-based combo have you pro-Thalia guys found her useful in? Thanks!

[GoboLord]

@ magicmerl & Dice_Box:
Very interesting discussion. Really good stuff going on here lately. Love that!

I've been very resistant to playing Thalia. I HATE using a non-goblin creature in this deck. But people's success (namely Max Tietze and JRW) recently has made me reconsider and I am testing her in the board. Which match-ups other than Storm-based combo have you pro-Thalia guys found her useful in? Thanks!

* Sneak Show
* TinFins
* UW Miracles / any control deck
* RUG Thresh
* RU Delver / Burn

However, Thalia is most effective against stormcombo and RUG Thresh - vs. the other decks listed she's just "better than a spotremoval".

[magicmerl]

Thank you for linking this!

Merl, I feel the same way about Cabal Therapy as you do about Pithing Needle. Lack of confidence has kept me from trying it even though I have had a set for years.

Yeah, I ran Cabal Therapy back in the day with a black splash, but I was so terribad I never got the right stuff with it.

I've been very resistant to playing Thalia. I HATE using a non-goblin creature in this deck.

It's no different really from playing a non-goblin spell like Lightning Bolt. Except of course Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls make her uncounterable....

But people's success (namely Max Tietze and JRW) recently has made me reconsider and I am testing her in the board. Which match-ups other than Storm-based combo have you pro-Thalia guys found her useful in? Thanks!

She's very good vs Dark Ritual and Brainstorm both since those decks are slowed down ENORMOUSLY. Less good vs G/R and white removal spells (like Swords and Terminus). Basically any deck with more spells than us breaks her symmetry.

[GoboLord]

She's very good vs Dark Ritual and Brainstorm both since those decks are slowed down ENORMOUSLY. Less good vs G/R and white removal spells (like Swords and Terminus). Basically any deck with more spells than us breaks her symmetry.

I just remembered that someone played Ethersworn Canonist a while ago. I actually think that Ethersworn Cannonist is better than Thalia vs. RUG, and Combo, but worse against Sneak Show and UW Miracles. They can't pull off this "in response: Brainstorm. Then [spell]" stuff anymore.

[Dice_Box]

Ok here we go. I ran my list without Kiki and with a extra Mountian.

First Match, Agro Elves.
First game he comboed out second turn.

-1
Sharpshooter
Crafter
Chieftain
War Marshal

+4 Kinesis

Game 2, Loss
I was forced to mull to 5. Had one land. I Pyroed his engine and killed his start. Drew no lands and folded turn 5 after he beat me down with critters.


Second Match, SnT (Omniscience)
Game one lost turn 2

Side in Chalice

Game two, refer to game one.


Match 3, StoneBlade
Game 1. Loss.
Jite, yea.

Side in Pithing

Game 2. Loss (My fault, I misplayed.)
I misplayed my opening. I did not know he had decided to keep and played fast. He saw my opening and Mulled, then StP my Lackey. From there we raced, I then realized I had not sided in Scrapper. I top a Pithing and he in response kills my board. We race back and forth and I lose with him on 4 thanks to a flyer. In all the guy was nice and pointed out where he thought I had made mistakes. I know from this I can play this better.


Match 4. Custom B/G Discard.
Game one. Win.
Cavern, Lackey, go.

Side in like I had for Elves.

Game two. Loss
He played first and made me discard my lackey. I had mulled to five and kept a hand. After the loss of lackey he made me discard my Ringleader and my Warchief. I did put up a race but he ended with 11 life.

Game Three. Win.
Lackey came in, hit turn two, dropped Recruiter. Drew two Gempalm and a Siege. Game.


What I learnt.
Zo Zu will have to go into the sideboard. Will kill everyone here. So many fetchlands.
I need a better counter for combo. I felt like I had no answers.
Grave hate should have been played against the elves. (Thought of that now. Hindsight)

What I am going to do.
Owner of the shop promised me four Root maze for next week. I will try it. Might be DOA but I think it is worth the trial.
Going to try Mainbord Pyro. I feel like it is helpful. Might not next week when trying Root Maze.
Chalice is too slow to stop combo here. Might play Mindbreak in its place.

Thoughts?

[Sandro95]

Ok here we go. I ran my list without Kiki and with a extra Mountian.

First Match, Agro Elves.
First game he comboed out second turn.

-1
Sharpshooter

Why board out Sharpshooter against Elves? It seems like one of our best cards against them.

[Dice_Box]

Inexperience.

[ScatmanX]

Why board out Sharpshooter against Elves? It seems like one of our best cards against them.

True.
Aside from that, here's what you can do:
- Write your decklist + SB with your report. It'll help us comment on it.
- Write down at least the moment when you realize you'd lost. Just writing "Jitte, yeah" doesn't mean anything. Lots of games are won even trough a Jitte T2 on G1, so that's not enough. What did you keep? Did you made any mistakes even if the game was already unfavorable?
- Tell us the side-ins and side-outs.

Other comments are:
Zozu seems nice, but is not good at all. Tested it, but feel free to do so.
Same goes for Root Maze.
MB kinesis is good sometimes, but looking at the decks you played against, the SB seem like the best place for it.

[jrw1985]

Tournament Report!


A week before the Milwaukee SCG Legacy Open it occurred to me that going to this tournament was a real possibility. My girlfriend and I had the weekend open, Milwaukee has always seemed like a cool town, and being a mere 5 hours' drive away from my hometown of Minneapolis meant the drive was doable. So we booked a hotel room, made dinner reservations for Saturday evening, and headed out to Milwaukee early Saturday morning. Our Saturday in Milwaukee was filled with booze (Milwaukee Brewing Co brewery tour) and food (dinner at Braise, a James Beard nominated restaurant). Sunday morning I woke up bright and early and wandered off to the convention center. My girlfriend's sister came up to visit from Chicago, so the two of them spent the day exploring the town while I hunkered down to play some Magic in the Delta Center.



Goblins

Jonathan Watry

10th Place at StarCityGames.com Legacy Open on 4/14/2013

Creatures (34)

4 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
3 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Mogg War Marshal
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Stingscourger
1 Krenko, Mob Boss

3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Spells (4)

4 Aether Vial

Lands (22)

3 Mountain
2 Arid Mesa
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Plateau
1 Rishadan Port
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Taiga
4 Wasteland
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Karakas


Sideboard

2 Chalice of the Void
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tin Street Hooligan
3 Blood Moon
1 Rest in Peace
2 Krosan Grip
1 Mindbreak Trap
3 Pyrokinesis

I designed my deck to give me a chance of stealing G1 against combo with Thalia, and beating any creature-based deck with Goblins' natural card advantage and Krenko.

I changed up my manabase slightly right before the tournament by swapping out a second, redundant Taiga for a more useful Rishadan Port. I figured the Port would be more relevant than colored mana in that 1 slot, and I didn't need to play 2 Taigas seeing as how I only ran 2 KGrips and TSH could be cast off Cavern.

I only ran 3 Piledriver because a 4th seemed redundant. For the same reason I only ran 3 MWM. 4 of either card seemed like too many and I'd rather have more flex slots to get more value out of my Matrons.

Karakas needed to be in there as a random out to Grizz and Emrakul, as well as to help cast Thalia.

1 SGC was enough for me because I think Krenko is better at winning games, but there's no denying that SGC can be incredibly powerful and useful as well. However, since SGC and Krenko fulfill the same role (create chumpers, win games) it seemed that having a variety of ways to win was actually the better call.

SB - I wanted at least 1 RiP because it is the best GY hate card, but it is redundant in mutiples. So I ran 2 Relic as well, since they can cycle so you can avoid the awkwardness of having multiples.

Blood Moon is an interesting card for me. It is there because the format is lousy with decks with purely NonBasic manabases. Now most of these decks run DRS as well, but GY hate and spot removal can effectively shut them off, and a Blood Moon can then completely shut them down. I probably still need to do more playtesting, but it seems like the best answer to Shardless BUG and Jund decks that I've seen so far.


Onto the Tournament Report!

279 Players. 9 Rounds X-2 cut to Top 8.

R1 - Eric - Merfolk

G1 I'm on the draw. Eric plays a Vial, then Forces min. He beats me down with 3 Lords and a Mutavault. A strong G1 for Merfolk.

I side in 3 Pyrokinesis and take out Thalia.

G2 I keep my 7, Eric mulls to 6. I use a Port to Tap him down, and he's fairly mana screwed. his big play this game is copying a Mogg War Marshal with a Phantasmal Image. I win it easy.

G3 Again, I keep my 7, Eric mulls to 6. I take hits from him while I build up a force 3 Piledrivers strong, then just run sideways for the win.

1-0


R2 - Kenta - BUG Control

G1 I'm on the play and we both keep 7. I cast T1 Lackey, he plays T1 DRS. I T2 Stingscourger the DRS to Lackey a Ringleader into play. Ringleader draws me 3 goblins. I take control of this one pretty quickly.

I side out Thalia for Graveyard hate.

G2 We both keep 7, but mine is Vial, Lackey, Lackey, 3 Goblins, and 1 Cavern of Souls. I keep it because, what the hell, I'm up a game. Let's see if it gets there. It doesn't. He drops 3 Goyfs onto the table and it's over quickly and violently.

G3 I keep my 7, he mulls to 6. I get Krenko online and Kenta can't find an answer.

2-0


R3 - Darrel - UW Blade

G1 I mull to 6, he keeps his 7. I get a large force with 2 Piledrivers on board and attack into his active SFM while he has Batterskull in hand. He elects to scoop, which I thought was a little early, but I'm not going to argue. He just must not have had the mana to make BS tricks happen.

I side out 3 Thalia and side in 2 KGrip and 1 Tin Street hooligan. I probably also swapped 2 Pyrokinesis for Stingscourger and Gempalm, so I could have more firepower to throw at SFM to keep BS offline. Pyrokinesis provides a lot of speed on the draw.

G2 Darrel keeps 7, I mull to 6. When Darrel has 2 basic lands he plays a Tundra and casts SFM for Batterskull. I Gempalm the SFM and Waste the Tundra. Darrel plays the Fetchland he had in hand last turn and curses his misplay as he shows me the Supreme Verdict he had stuck in hand.You relly need to keep your eyes open for those types of plays. Anytime you can take away your opponent's play AND their mana development it's like you've taken away their turn, and that's bound to mess with their gameplan.

I'd like to say that this round was one of those variance matches where it just seemed he never had what he needed when he needed it.

3-0


R4 - Nicholas - MUD

G1 I keep a slow control-ish hand with Vial and Gempalm. I go T1 Vial, Nicholas plays T1 City of Traitors into Lightning Greaves. I play a land and pass T2. He plays Metalworker, equips Greaves, reveals a hand of all artifacts, casts Kuldotha Forgemaster, equips Greaves, I scoop. Not really much you can do against the nuts.

I side out Thalias and bring in TSH, KGrips. I also shave some Gempalms for Pyrokinesis.

G2 we both mull to 6, but I have a super quick Lackey hand and the spot removal to put him behind so he scoops.

G3 gets hairy. He plays a Lodestone Golem, then another, but I'm somehow able to get Krenko in play, producing infinite blockers and generating the win after 3 or 4 turns.
4-0


R5 - Logan (9th) - Shardless BUG

G1 Deathrite and Abrupt Decay stifle my board developement and Shardless Agent and Jace put me far behind.
I sideboard terribly. This is a match were I should have brought in 3 Blood Moon, 2 Relic, 1 RiP, 3 Pyrokinesis and I should have taken out 3 Thalia, Stingscourger, Sharpshooter, 4 Vials. I just should have gone for pure control, trying to lock him out of the game with Moon. Instead I just sided in Grips and TSH in place of Thalias!?! I didn't even bring in GY hate! Poor choice I think.

G2 I lost decisively.
4-1

I hopped on the Source, got a little love, and told myself to turn it around.


R6 - Xue - ANT

Xue plays at the Monsters Den in Minneapolis, our LGS. It's always fun when you drive 5 hours to play against someone from down the street, but whatevs. The benefit if these MUs is that I know he's on ANT.

G1 I mull to 5 looking for a quick Lackey hand or a Thalia. I find neither. So i keep a hand with Piledriver, MWM, 2 lands, and X. I'm on the play so I play land, go. He Sculpts. I play Piledriver. He sculpts. I play MWM, he scultps. I don't pay the echo and draw nothing better to play, and attack for 4. He's scultpted enough apparently, and goes off, then realizes that he's misplayed and storm will only be for 8 spells. I take 16, going to 2. He goes up to 30. I swing for 7 for the next 4 turns and win.

I side in 2 Chalice, 1 MBT, 2 Relic, 1 RiP and side out Stingscourger, Shapshooter, and Gemplams.

G2 He has a hand which is heavy on removal but he can't put together the combo in time. He Abrupt decays a Thalia and a Piledriver but I'm still able to put a winning hord together before he can combo off.
5-1


R7 - Ethan - RUG Delver

G1 Ethan is on the play. He plays Volcanic T1, I Waste it. He plays Volcanic T2, I Waste it. He plays Fetch T3 and finally starts developing his board. I could have used those Wastes more for mana development than denial, but his opening made it seem like he was on a Sneak and Show list. I get beaten down by a Goyf and a Goose and lose G1.

I side in 2 Relic and 1 RiP and take out the Thalias.

G2 I take a few Delver hits while Ethan tries to control my board, but eventually I land a hastey Krenko that puts Ethan too far behind.

G3 was my most satisfying game of the day. I opened on a hand with Vial, Relic, and dudes. He plays something T1, I go for the T1 Relic, thinking that I'd rather have Relic Dazed than Vial. Relic resolves. Ethan plays a Goose. I resolve Vial. He starts beating for 1. I start playing Goblins that Ethan burns out. I draw into another Relic and play it to keep his Goose small. he plays another Goose. I pop a relic and play a RiP. At this point all I need to do is start playing Goblins and I win. It's inevitable. I Gempalm a Delver or two along the way, but it doesn't really matter. I have a RiP with a Relic backup in play. Ethan clears the board with a Rough // Tumble. It doesn't even matter. I swing fro 2 a turn until I win. Inevitability. Very satisfying.
6-1


R8 - Dan - UW Blade

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=55028

G1 I mull to 4 and lose.

I sided in 2 KGrip and TSH, taking out Thalias.

G2 I mulled to 6, he kept 7. I T1 Lackey, it went plowing. I played T2 Vial, he played T2 CoP:Red ( in my mind he chortled, but I'm sure that's just me adding that in). I had a KGrip in hand at this time, so I wasn't quite worried about being locked out. T3 I ticked up Vial (Lackey in hand) and he played T3 Top, Mutavault. I Vialed in Lackey. He had a land and mutavault open. T4 I drew Gempalm. There have been many times in my life where I've burned out a Mutavault with a Gempalm after it's been activated to block a Lackey. Even though he had the CoP:R and only had to pay 1 to stop Lackey from getting through I figured the opportunity to kill Lackey would be too tempting. So I turned Lackey sideways. He thought for a moment and activated Vault. I Gempalmed it before blocks. He realized what Gempalm does. He tried tapping Mutavault for mana, but I reminded him that Vault has summoning sickness since it's now a creature and he just played it last turn. Vault hit the bin and Lackey connected. I cheated in a Ringleader, hitting 4 goblins off of it! The following turn I KGripped the CoP:R and the game was over soon thereafter.

G3 he got stuck on colored mana. He had five lands in play but 3 were Mutavault or Mishra's Factory. I got a hastey Krenko online and made 5 Goblins, then 10. I went for the Krenko line so that I could keep Ringleaders in hand for the inevitable Terminus. Dan spun Top at the end of my turn and went into the tank. He spun it again on his turn and went deep, deep into the tank. Had he been a combo deck I would have called a judge for slow play, but I figured he was only taking so much time because he was realizing that he couldn't win this one, so I wasn't going to rub it in. Dan couldn't find a sweeper and died to Goblin tokens.
7-1


R9 - Julio (5th) - RUG Cascade

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=55018

I was expecting an ID this round, but Julio couldn't guarantee himself a spot in the Top-8 apparently. So We had to
play it out.

G1 I actually kept a super loose hand. I believe it was 2 Lackeys, Thalia, and 4 Land. I kept it because it could topdeck like a champ and beat a combo deck. I was on the draw and just got crushed. Punishing Fire recurred with Grove. I couldn't draw a Wasteland to get back in it. My topdecks were weak.

I sided the way I thought I should have sided for the Shardless BUG MU R5. I tried to make my deck into a super grindy control deck. I brought in 3 Blood Moon, 2 Relic, 1 RiP, 3 Pyrokinesis and took out 3 Thalia, Stingscourger, Sharpshooter, 4 Vials. In hindsight, siding out Vial was probably wrong since he didn't run Abrupt Decay.

G2 was a mess. My opening 7 was landless so I mulled to 6. The 6 had Lackey and 2 lands and Goblins, so it was a fine Goblin hand, but it was cold to a T1 DRS from him. Well, he had the DRS. The play of the game was when he cast Bloodbraid Elf, cascades into Shardless Agent, cascades into DRS. 4 mana to cast 8 mana worth of creatures, 7 power, 6 toughness. Balls. Got dream-crushed real bad. Wound up in 10th place, but whateryagonnado?
7-2

I really only have 2 major insights into this tournament.

1) Thalia didn't exactly pull her weight in the MD, but she was never terrible either. There was never a situation where the game would have been remarkable different had she been a 2-drop goblin instead of Thalia. If an uber-powerful 2cc Goblin gets printed again, Thalia will probably be moved to the SB. Until then, I don't see and remarkably better cards out there for those slots.

2) We need an answer to DRS decks that run Cascade creatures and/or Punishing Fire. Did you see the monstrosity that Julio played R9? In order to win this MU we need to turn off DRS, turn off Punishing Fire, deal with Goyf, and maintain CA against Cascade critters. Maybe I should have run 3 Relic, 1 RiP and only 2 Blood Moons and not sided in Pyrokinesis this MU... Time will tell. Blood Moon seems like a solid way to really shut them down, but it might be Win-More because GY hate might be enough. Obviously if you can land a Blood moon and remove the graveyards these DRS decks are completely locked out of the game since they run 0 basics. I need to playtest these MUs more in order to figure out what's really going to win this.

I hope you enjoyed this report (even its oscillating between present and past tense). Thanks to all you Sourcers for the support during the tourney. It was greatly appreciated and I'll try to actually Top-8 when SCG comes back to Minneapolis.

-Jon

[L10]

Here is a good starting point if you want to use Revoker or Pithing Needle. Go under "Barbed Blightning's Revoker Bible".
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=306633
The main difference is that Revoker can't target lands but Pithing Needle doesn't affect mana abilities. I prefer Pithing Needle because unlike DnT, we do not have a way to protect Revoker from creature removal.

As for Cabal Therapy, you do not name the card you think the opponent has in there hand (unless you know it), but the card you are most afraid of, like Engineered Plague, Moat, or Infernal Tutor, depending on your MU.

Great find with the Classic and Romantic Game Theory by Adrian Sullivan.

Edit: I will read your report when I get home Jon. Thanks for posting.

[Pee-Dee-2]

I saw that you talked about Tobi Dregers deck of the GP Trial in Strasbourg this weekend.
I worked it out with him and before I spoke about the U-splash with Tobi, I have never played it before (I played each other variants in the last X years since Legacy was announced), but I can say: it works. Spell Pierce is very strong and the idea is to board it against every unfair deck (f.e. Kombo).
At one little tournament in the last days, when I expected much kombo and Show and Tell, I had 3 Spell Pierce and 3 Flusterstorm in the sideboard (2 Volcanics main) and it was awesome.

The best is the opponent's face when he announces a spell and you fetch for a volcanic to cast flusterstorm/Spell Pierce. So was in one game against TinFins. The player knew, I would board Spell Pierces (he knows me) and on the turn before I would have killed him, he cast Dark Ritual and Massacre with 2 mana left in pool (for Spell Pierce). But I had a Flusterstorm

These are the moments of secret tech. Also have a look at the Celestial Purge in Tobi's sb. Nice card!

[GoboLord]

Hey Jon,

congrats on the good finish and thank you for the nice read. Sounds like you've had a really good weekend (also talking about the city trip and the hotel-thing )

my favorites:

R1 - Eric - Merfolk
his big play this game is copying a Mogg War Marshal with a Phantasmal Image. I win it easy.
[...]

R3 - Darrel - UW Blade
G2 Darrel keeps 7, I mull to 6. When Darrel has 2 basic lands he plays a Tundra and casts SFM for Batterskull. I Gempalm the SFM and Waste the Tundra. Darrel plays the Fetchland he had in hand last turn and curses his misplay as he shows me the Supreme Verdict he had stuck in hand.You relly need to keep your eyes open for those types of plays. Anytime you can take away your opponent's play AND their mana development it's like you've taken away their turn, and that's bound to mess with their gameplan.
[...]

I hopped on the Source, got a little love, and told myself to turn it around.
[...]

R7 - Ethan - RUG Delver.... and take out the Thalias. (!!??!?!!?!)
G3 was my most satisfying game of the day. I opened on a hand with Vial, Relic, and dudes. He plays something T1, I go for the T1 Relic, thinking that I'd rather have Relic Dazed than Vial. Relic resolves. Ethan plays a Goose. I resolve Vial. He starts beating for 1. I start playing Goblins that Ethan burns out. I draw into another Relic and play it to keep his Goose small. he plays another Goose. I pop a relic and play a RiP. At this point all I need to do is start playing Goblins and I win. It's inevitable. I Gempalm a Delver or two along the way, but it doesn't really matter. I have a RiP with a Relic backup in play. Ethan clears the board with a Rough // Tumble. It doesn't even matter. I swing fro 2 a turn until I win. Inevitability. Very satisfying.
[...]

R8 - Dan - UW Blade
There have been many times in my life where I've burned out a Mutavault with a Gempalm after it's been activated to block a Lackey. Even though he had the CoP:R and only had to pay 1 to stop Lackey from getting through I figured the opportunity to kill Lackey would be too tempting. So I turned Lackey sideways. He thought for a moment and activated Vault. I Gempalmed it before blocks. He realized what Gempalm does. He tried tapping Mutavault for mana, but I reminded him that Vault has summoning sickness since it's now a creature and he just played it last turn. Vault hit the bin and Lackey connected.

First: Why did you side out Thalia against RUG and leave Sharpshooter in the MD? I'd personally kick 1 Sharpy + 2 Lackeys to bring in the GYH.
Second:

We need an answer to DRS decks that run Cascade creatures and/or Punishing Fire.

Perish and/or Nature's Ruin should take care of the creature-side at least.
Grafdigger's Cage stops the Casacade mechanic (if I'm not mistaken).
Rest in Peace, Relic and Leyline of the Void affect Goyf, DRS and Punishing Fire.
Overall I think Pyrokinesis is a good choice vs. those decks too, since those cascade creatures and DRS are x/2, which mean you will trade 2:2 here. However, that doesnt change the fact that Cascading gives them free spells.
Hum, probably the best overall-strategy is to attck them at their mana-base with Rishadan Port/Wasteland and probably Blood Moon (and a removal for DRS ofc).